21042017 - NIA cash: Osinbajo meets Magu, DSS boss, IG, others

Police raid Goje’s 

house at 

8 

Asokoro, 

uncover N18m, 

$19,000, 4,000 

Saudi Riyal cash 

SAGAY’S PACAC: 

Fresh crisis 

looms between 

Presidency, 

Senate 

14 

Appointment of 

EFCC boss, Magu: 

Lawyers urge 

Senate to 

approach 

S-Court 4 

CCT TRIAL: 

FG docks 

Justice Ngwuta 

on fresh 

8-count charge 

4 

** ** 

VOL. 25: NO. 63274 FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 

NIA cash: Osinbajo meets 

Magu, DSS boss, IG, others 

•Panel a ruse, independent inquest needed — PDP 

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political 

Editor, Henry Umoru, Levinus 

Nwabughiogu, & Omeiza 

Ajayi 

L President 

AGOS—Vice 

Yemi 

Osinbajo yesterday met 

with the acting chairman of 

the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, 

EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu 

and other security chiefs in 

the wake of public interest 

in investigations into the 

circumstances that led to the 

N13 billion cash haul in a 

National Intelligence 

Agency, NIA, Lagos safe 

house. 

The meeting came as the 

Senate also yesterday 

delved into the rumpus 

over the Osborne cash haul, 

bidding to summon Mr. 

Ibrahim Magu, acting 

chairman of the Economic 

Continues on Page 5 

AFRICAN MARITIME ADMINISTRATIONS ANNUAL CONFERENCE... 

From left: Speaker, House of Representatives, 

Yakubu Dogara; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; 

Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi; and 

Director-General, Nigerian Maritime and Safety 

Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, during the 

3rd Association of African Maritime 

Administrations Annual Conference in Abuja, 

yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. 

B'Haram terrorists 

kill 11 soldiers in 

Borno attacks 

PROVIDUS BANK OPENING: 

Ambode seeks 

harmonisation of forex, 

interest rates 

6 

10 

COMMISSIONING... 

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode; Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu 

I; Managing Director, Providus Bank, Mr. Walter Akpani, his wife, Winnie, at 

the commissioning of Providus Bank's headquarters office complex at Victoria 

Island, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez. See: Story on Page 10 

COLUMNIST: OWEI LAKEMFA 31 CONVERSATION WITH AZU 36 SEE INSIDE 

Naira 

rises to 

N380/$ 

Mr & Mrs 

5

2 —VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 — 3

4—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 

:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 

Appointment of EFCC boss, Magu: Lawyers 

urge Senate to approach S-Court 

By Emmanuel 

Aziken, Wahab 

Abdallah, Dapo 

Akinrefon, Charles 

Kumolu, Omezia 

Ajayi & Idrisu 

Yakubu 

L AGOS—LAWYERS, 

yesterday, waded into 

the brewing crisis between 

the Presidency and the 

Senate over application of 

Section 171 of the 

constitution concerning the 

President’s right to 

unilaterally appoint heads of 

extra-ministerial agencies 

with an urge on the 

legislative body to seek 

Supreme Court 

interpretation. 

While majority of the senior 

lawyers overwhelmingly 

urged the Senate to seek 

judicial interpretation, Chief 

Mike Ahamba, SAN, 

however, cautioned the 

Senate against altering the 

constitution to give effect to 

their desire, saying the 

National Assembly had no 

right on its own to amend or 

alter the constitution. 

Among the lawyers who 

spoke, yesterday, besides 

Chief Ahamba, were Mr 

Babatunde Fashanu, SAN; 

Second Vice President of 

Nigeria Bar Association, 

NBA, Mr. Monday Ubani; 

lawyer and activist, 

Adetokunbo Mumumi; 

Ologun Ademola; Mr 

Kennedy Khanoba; Mr 

Abdulrahman Abubakar and 

Agama Rafael, among 

others. 

Mr. Akin Oshuntokun, 

who served as political 

adviser to President 

Olusegun Obasanjo and 

Afenifere spokesman, Mr. 

Yinka Odumakin, also 

added verve to the argument 

in calling for adherence to 

the law as it is in 

appointment into the extraministerial 

positions. 

Babatunde Fashanu, SAN, 

while responding to the 

controversy, said: “Let the 

Senate approach the 

Supreme Court for the 

interpretation if it is not 

satisfied with the section as 

stated. However, the words 

and letters of the constitution 

are clear on that 

appointment,” the 

constitutional lawyer stated. 

Executive Director of Socio- 

Economic Right and 

Accountability Project, 

SERAP, Adetokunbo 

Mumumi, while observing 

that there was no perfect 

constitution, said it would not 

be out of place for the Senate 

to approach the apex court 

for judicial interpretation. 

He said: “If an issue within 

the polity becomes a matter 

in contention between the 

legisture and the executive, 

such matter should be 

submitted to court for 

adjudication/interpretation. 

So it would not be a bad idea 

if the Senate proceeds to 

court on any unclear or 

disputed issue in the polity.” 

Speaking in the same vein, 

Second Vice President of 

Nigeria Bar Association, 

NBA, Mr. Monday Ubani 

said: "On Section 171 of the 

1999 constitution, 

amendment shouldn’t be the 

issue now. They should seek 

judicial interpretations on it 

because there are several 

interpretations by lawyers. It 

is after judicial interpretation 

that they can seek for 

amendment. 

Constitutional lawyer, 

Chief Mike Ahamba, SAN, 

warning the National 

Assembly not to amend the 

constitution to suit their 

preference, affirmed the 

legislative body lacks the 

legal competence to amend 

the constitution without a 

Constituent Assembly. 

Kennedy Khanoba, Head 

of Khanoba and Khanoba 

Chambers, Mr 

Abdulrahman Abubakar and 

Agama Rafael, Principal 

Partner, Bethel Chambers, all 

Abuja based lawyers also 

spoke in the same vein. 

Lagos-based lawyers, Yemi 

Omodele and Ologun 

Ademola, also agreed that 

the Senate should seek 

interpretation of the case at 

the Supreme Court. 

Mr. Osuntokun on his part, 

opposed any move to amend 

the constitution, saying: 

“All executive 

appointments within the 

Federal Government are 

delegated authority of the 

President. He is the 

embodiment of the executive 

organ and as such the 

appointing authority of the 

Nigerian public service. But 

the authority is tempered by 

the constitutional provision 

of checks and balances, 

especially the appropriation 

and oversight powers of the 

National Assembly. As such 

I don’t see the need to 

amend the constitution.” 

Afenifere spokesman, Mr. 

Yinka Odumakin, on his 

part, said: “Section 171 

cannot take effect on the 

account of Magu’s rejection 

without amending the 

EFCC Act or the constitution. 

The reason those who 

drafted the EFCC Act gave 

dual authority in 

appointment is because the 

body performs roles that have 

judicial and legislative 

contents.” 

PRESENTATION: From left, Regional Bank Head, Lagos Island, Fidelity 

Bank Plc, Ifeanyi Nwosu; wife of the N3 million star prize winner, Mrs 

Egwuonwu; Executive Director, Shared Services and Products, Fidelity Bank 

Plc, Chijioke Ugochukwu; Miss Ozioma Egwuonwu; N3 million naira star 

prize winner, Simon Izuchukwu Egwuonwu and Head of Savings, Fidelity 

Bank Plc, Janet Nnabuko, at the 7th monthly prize presentation of ongoing 

Fidelity Get Alert in Millions promotion, in Lagos, yesterday. 

CCT trial: FG docks Justice Ngwuta 

on fresh 8-count charge 

•Hearing begins July 12 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

ABUJA—THE Federal 

Government, 

yesterday, docked 

Justice Sylvester 

Ngwuta of the Supreme 

Court before the Code of 

Conduct Tribunal, CCT, 

sitting in Abuja, on fresh 

eight-count corruption 

charge. 

Ngwuta, who is 

equally facing another 

18-count criminal charge 

before the Federal High 

Court in Abuja, pleaded 

not guilty to the charge 

which was endorsed by 

the Attorney-General of 

the Federation and 

Minister of Justice, Mr. 

Abubakar Malami, SAN. 

Specifically, Ngwuta 

was accused of engaging 

in private business as a 

public officer, contrary to 

Section 6(b) of the Code 

of Conduct Bureau and 

Tribunal Act. 

The Federal 

Government alleged that 

he refused to declare his 

assets as a public officer 

contrary to Section 15 of 

the Code of Conduct 

Bureau Act, Cap C15 

Laws of the Federation of 

Nigeria 2004 and 

Punishable under Section 

23(2) of the same Act. 

According to the 

Federal Government, the 

embattled jurist failed to 

declare his ownership of 

28 plots of land to the 

Code of Conduct 

Bureau, CCB, in the 

assets declaration form 

he filled between June 

2, 2011 and July 19, 

2016. 

He was also accused of 

shielding his ownership 

of five exotic cars. 

Meanwhile, shortly 

after the defendant 

entered his plea, the 

prosecution team led by 

Mr. Umar Mohammed 

secured nod of the 

tribunal for Federal 

Government to produce 

its witnesses on July 12. 

Likewise, Ngwuta’s 

lawyer, Chief Kanu 

Agabi, SAN, persuaded 

a two-man panel of the 

CCT led by its 

Chairman, Justice 

Danladi Umar, to allow 

his client on bail pending 

hearing 

and 

determination of the case 

against him. 

2019 polls: More than 7m 

PVCs uncollected —INEC 

boss 

By Dapo Akinrefon 

CHAIRMAN 

of 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

INEC, Prof. Mahmood 

Yakubu, has lamented that 

there were over seven 

million uncollected 

Permanent Voters Cards, 

PVCs, across the country, 

saying it posed a challenge 

to future elections. 

He said this, yesterday, at 

a one-day CSO strategy 

meeting to review elections 

in Nigeria post 2015, in 

Lagos. 

Represented by National 

Commissioner (North 

Central) in-charge of 

Elections and Party and 

Monitoring, Professor 

Anthonia Simbine, the 

FG reduces documentation 

for import, export trade 

By Babajide 

Komolafe 

LAGOS—THE Federal 

Government has 

reduced the documentation 

requirements for import and 

export trade transactions. 

The Central Bank of 

Nigeria, CBN, disclosed this, 

yesterday, in a circular to all 

authorised dealers entitled 

“Revised import and export 

documentation and timeline 

for processing form 'NXP'.” 

Signed by the Director, 

Trade and Exchange 

Department, CBN, Mr. 

Wuritka Gotring, the circular 

stated: “The Federal 

Government of Nigeria, in its 

effort to create an enabling 

environment for doing 

business in Nigeria has 

approved the reduction of 

documentation requirements 

and timeline for import and 

export trade transactions in 

the country. 

Buhari's anti-corruption war 

is noise—Sule Lamido 

FORMER governor of 

Jigawa State, Sule 

Lamido, has described the 

anti-corruption war of 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari as a ruse. 

Speaking in an interview 

with the Hausa Service of the 

BBC, Lamido wondered 

how a man who worked 

under Sani Abacha, the late 

military dictator, could be 

talking about fighting 

corruption. 

Abacha appointed Buhari 

as chairman of the then 

Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF. 

“He (Buhari) worked 

under Abacha; in fact he was 

the closest to the late military 

ruler and when it comes to 

corruption, everybody 

knows where Abacha’s 

INEC boss also said desperation 

for power by politicians 

posed the greatest 

challenge faced by the 

election management 

body in the country. 

In his address, entitled: 

Review elections 2015: 

Overview, challenges and 

prospects, organised by the 

Independent Service 

Delivery Monitoring 

Group, ISDMG, Prof 

Yakubu lamented that 

“apathetic citizenry, weak 

political parties and 

inadequate institutional 

support for voter 

mobilisation and 

enlightenment resulted in 

low participation at 

elections, by both voters and 

political parties and over 

seven million uncollected 

PVCs.” 

“Consequently, the revised 

documentation requirements 

for import and export and 

timeline for processing Form 

'NXP' are as follows: Revised 

Import Documentation: Bill 

of lading; Certificate of 

Origin (formerly Combined 

Certificate of Value and 

Origin, CCVO; Commercial 

invoice Exit Note (formerly 

Exit Gate); Form 'M'; Packing 

list; Single Goods 

Declaration (SGO); Product 

Certificate. 

"Revised Export 

Documentation: Bill of 

Lading; Certificate of Origin; 

Commercial Invoice; Single 

Goods Declaration; Nigerian 

Export Proceeds, NXP; 

Clean Certificate of 

Inspection; Packing list. 

“Timeline for Processing 

Form NXP: The timeline for 

processing Form 'NXP' by 

the authorised dealers shall 

be a maximum of 48 hours 

from the receipt of the 

application." 

government stands,” 

Lamido said. 

“Buhari is just making 

noise; there’s no iota of truth 

in the so-called commitment 

to the improvement of 

security and halting graft in 

the country.” 

Lamido also faulted the 

Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, EFCC, 

for its refusal to disclose the 

owners of the monies 

recovered in an apartment in 

Ikoyi, Lagos. 

“It’s unthinkable to say that 

the EFCC had discovered 

huge monies in a building 

in Lagos but could not track 

the real owner; who leaked 

the story? Who did the source 

say is the owner of the find?” 

he queried.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, 

APRIL 21, 2017—5 

POCKET CARTOON 

MEETING: From left (sitting),Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, 

Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade, CRS Commissioner for 

Health, Dr. Inyang Asibong at the 2nd World Health Organization Global Partners 

Meeting on Neglected Tropical Diseases, Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday. 

NIA cash: Osinbajo meets Magu, DSS boss, IG 

Continues from Page 1 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC to 

furnish more information 

on circumstances around 

discovery of the money. The 

Senate announced 

yesterday that it would next 

week through its 

Committee on Anti- 

Corruption and Financial 

Crimes invite Magu to shed 

more light on the matter. 

However, the possible 

invitation of former 

President Goodluck 

Jonathan before the panel 

set up by President 

Muhammadu Buhari to 

probe the NIA cash haul, 

was last night, raising dust 

with his supporters urging 

him not to honour it in the 

same way President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

opted not to honour 

summons to appear before 

the Justice Chukwudifu 

Oputa panel on human 

rights abuses during 

military rule. 

That suggestion was, 

however, carpeted by the 

South-South Reawakening 

Group which yesterday 

pleaded with Jonathan not 

to soil his hard-earned 

global reputation as a 

democrat by honouring the 

invitation. 

Witnesses await 

summons from 

panel 

It was also gathered 

yesterday that principal 

witnesses to be invited 

before the three man 

presidential panel 

investigating the discovery 

of N13 billion in foreign 

and local currencies in a 


Agency, NIA Lagos safe 

house were yesterday 

waiting for summons. 

It also emerged 

yesterday that the NIA 

allegedly collected $289 

million in cash from the 

accounts of the National 

Petroleum Investment 

Management Services 

(NAPIMS) in February 

2015. It was also gathered 

yesterday that the NIA 

funds were contained in the 

hand-over notes from the 

Jonathan administration, 

passed over to President 

Buhari, sources close to the 

development disclosed 

IT'S UP TO YOU 

BY AYO ADIO - 08104802192 

Except we live above the fear of death, 

greatness will always elude us. It’s up to you. 

TAKE HEART 

BY ELLA RANDLE- O8084919482 

Choose to avoid thoughts that weaken you, and 

you will know true wisdom. It is your choice!— 

Wayne Dyer 

Forgive and let go thoughts of resentment, 

anger and hatred, it emits a slow dark 

debilitating energy that limits anyone who abhors 

and indulges in any energy draining emotions. If 

you could release them, you would know more 

peace. You have a divine connection to inner peace, 

stay connected to Spirit even when it seems to be 

the most challenging thing to do. Mediation, prayer 

and mindfulness brings you harmony. Turn your 

hurts over to a higher power, and allow Spirit to 

flow through you and you will radiate light and 

love and bring this peace to everyone and 

everything you do. 

SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE 

A little bird can only take as much water as its 

belly can contain. 

yesterday. 

Sources in the 

Presidential Villa disclosed 

that all three members of the 

panel, set up under the 

chairmanship of Vice- 

President Osinbajo, whose 

other members include 

Attorney-General of the 

Federation, Abubakar 

Malami and National 

Security Adviser, Gen. 

Babagana Monguno (rtd.) 

met in the office of the vicepresident 

yesterday. Also at 

the meeting were the 

Inspector-General of Police, 

Idris Abubkar, the Director- 

General of the Department 

of State Security, DSS, 

Lawal Daura, Acting SGF, 

Dr. Habibat Lawan and the 

Acting D-G, NIA, 

Ambassador Arab Yadam 

amongst others. 

Magu who met with the 

team, however, denied that 

the meeting had to do with 

the Osborne cash haul. 

Magu who was seen 

coming out from the Vice- 

President’s office yesterday 

said his visit was in 

connection with a meeting 

of the Assets Recovery 

Committee. 

However, Vanguard 

could not confirm if the 

meeting had anything to do 

with investigations into the 

Osborne cash haul and 

probe into affairs of 

suspended Secretary to the 

Government of the 

Federation, SGF, Mr. 

Babachir Lawal. 

Among those to be 

invited are the suspended 

Director-General of the 

NIA, Ambassador Ayo Oke, 

his wife, Mrs. Folashade 

Oke, the acting chairman of 

the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, EFCC 

and the NSA, Gen. 

Monguno who is himself a 

member of the panel. As at 

last night, Vanguard 

checks revealed that none 

of the principal witnesses 

had been invited. 

As at press time last night 

checks on some of those 

expected to be invited 

indicated that invitations 

were yet to be issued to 

them by the panel which is 

expected to round up its 

assignment in 14 days. 

Controversy over 

Jonathan’s role 

Meanwhile claims that 

President Jonathan would 

be summoned to appear 

before the panel to shed 

light on claims that the 

money was disbursed to the 

NIA during his regime was 

last night raising 

controversy. 

A PDP senator speaking 

on condition of strict 

anonymity said he would 

oppose any move to get 

Jonathan to the panel on the 

claim that President Buhari 

as opposition leader 

rebuffed several invitations 

to appear before the Justice 

Oputa panel on uman 

rights abuses during the 

military era. 

“If I am Jonathan, I will 

never before the panel 

because it is a huge set-up,” 

the senator said yesterday. 

“Buhari and his 

associates refused to appear 

before Oputa panel and 

nothing happened,” the 

senator said yesterday. 

However, the South- 

South Reawakening Group 

yesterday urged the former 

president to honour any 

invitation extended to him 

on the issue. The group’s 

coordinator, Comrade Joe 

Ambakaderio told 

Vanguard yesterday that 

Jonathan might soil his 

reputation as a statesman 

by refusing to honour any 

invitation extended to him. 

“He should go there and 

say what he knows, good 

or bad, he has a reputation 

as a democrat and should 

not soil it with any such antidemocratic 

tendencies,” he 

said. 

Jonathan was said to 

have approved the funds 

sometime in 2013 after the 

agency then under another 

management asked for the 

funds. Intelligence sources 

told Vanguard yesterday 

that besides the NIA, other 

security agencies were also 

provided with funds by the 

Jonathan administration at 

about the same time the 

NIA got its money. 

Yesterday, The Cable, an 

online news portal reported 

that the NIA received 

$289,202,382 in cash from 

the account of the National 

Petroleum Investment 

Management Services 

(NAPIMS) in February 

2015. The money was 

collected after the elections 

were postponed. 

The online news portal 

reported that the funds were 

approved for NIA’s “covert 

operations” by President 

Jonathan and subsequently 

withdrawn in cash from 

NAPIMS’ account at CBN. 

It could not as at last night 

be confirmed if the Osborne 

cash was part of the amount 

allegedly obtained from 

NAPIMS. 

While NIA sources claim 

that The Presidency was 

briefed on the cash, other 

sources have disputed the 

claim. It was believed that 

they were for the 

investigation into the 

allegations of corruption 

against Lawal and Oke. 

Senate to invite Magu 

Speaking with Vanguard 

yesterday, a member of the 

committee, Senator Dino 

Melaye (APC, Kogi West), 

said the EFCC boss would 

be invited to come and 

explain who the rightful 

owner of the money is, 

adding that Nigerians were 

eager to know. He said the 

anti-graft agency must not 

operate in secrecy, 

especially in a very 

sensitive situation. 

“Yes, we are going to 

invite the EFCC once we 

resume next week, the 

agency must tell us the real 

owner of the money.” 

NAIRA WATCH 

Naira rises to N380/$ 

By Babajide Komolafe 

Adamawa gov, 

Bindow, at Aso 

Rock 

Meanwhile, 24 hours 

after Lawal was suspended, 

Governor, Jibrila Bindo of 

Adamawa State visited the 

Presidential Villa ostensibly 

on account of the 

development given that 

Lawal is from his state. 

It also emerged that 

Secretary to the 


Federation, SGF, Mr. 

Babachir Lawal in 

compliance with his 

suspension from office did 


The naira yesterday appreciated by $5 to N380 

per dollar in the parallel market due to 

improved dollar supply and decline in 

demand for dollars. 

Vanguard survey of the parallel market revealed 

that the parallel market exchange rate, which opened 

the week at N405 per dollar and dropped to N385 

per dollar on Tuesday, dropped further to N380 per 

dollar yesterday, translating to N5 appreciation for 

the naira 

Consequently, the naira has gained N20 or 4.9 per 

cent this week in the parallel market. 

Bureau De Change sources attributed the 

appreciation to the increased dollar supply to the 

segment from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). 

On Tuesday, the CBN sold $20,000 to each BDCs, 

up from $10,000 the previous week. The apex bank 

is expected to further sell $20,000 to each of the 3,185 

BDCs today, thus boosting dollar supply. 

This, according to President, Association of 

Bureaux De change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), 

Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, will prompt further 

appreciation of the naira before the close of business 

today. 

The increase dollar supply to BDCs is part of the 

apex bank’s intervention in the foreign exchange 

market aimed to addressing the wide gap between 

the interbank exchange rate and the parallel market 

exchange rate. 

Since Monday February 20th 2017, when it 

commenced the intervention, the apex bank 

has injected $3.63 billion by intervening in 

the forex market 19 times as follows: Tuesday 

February 21st, $417 million; Thursday February 23rd, 

$231 million; Monday February 27th, $180 million; 

Friday March 3, $350 million; Monday March 6, 

N367 million; Tuesday March 7, $100 million; 

Thursday March 9, $170 million; Tuesday March 

14, $190 million; Wednesday March 14, $150 million; 

Thursday March 16, $100 million, 

Monday March 20, $143 million; Thursday March 

23rd, $100 million; Monday March 27, $185 million; 

Thursday March 30, $100 million; Monday April 3rd, 

$240 million; Thursday April 6th, $100 million; 

Monday April 10, $100 million; Wednesday April 

12, $250 million and $280 million on Tuesday April 

18.

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 


Whistle-blower: 

NAFDAC 

uncovers 

N200m fake 

products in 

Ogun, 

Anambra 

By Chioma Obinna 

THE National Agency 

for Food and Drugs 

Administration and 

Control, NAFDAC, has 

uncovered fake and 

unregistered products 

valued at over N200 

million. 

The products, 

confiscated through a 

whistle-blower’s report, 

were stocked in a 

building at 11, Omotosho 

Crescent, off Ewedana 

Street, Toll Gate, Ota in 

Ogun State. 

The building also 

served as production 

outlet for bitters with fake 

NAFDAC registration 

numbers. 

At a briefing in Lagos 

yesterday, Acting 

Director-General of 

NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde 

Oni, explained that the 

building is a bungalow of 

five bedrooms, with two 

residential rooms, while 

the other three, the 

parlour and the kitchen 

were used for production 

of unregistered, 

deceptive and counterfeit 

products. 

Oni, who was 

represented by the 

Director, Port 

Inspectorate, Mr. 

Kingsley Ejiofor, gave the 

name of the owner 

(withheld), adding that 

the products were being 

produced in a dirty 

environment by 

unqualified personnel. 

According to her, empty 

plastic bottles, caps, 

cartons and sticker labels 

of other products were 

also found in the facility, 

while the address on the 

labels of all the products 

were fake. 

Oni said the agency 

also raided Ogbaru Relief 

Market in Onitsha, 

Anambra State, where 

they discovered several 

shops used for the 

production, distribution, 

sale and storage of fake 

and counterfeit alcoholic 

and non-alcoholic drinks 

of various popular brands 

valued at over N200 

million. 

The drinks, she noted, 

were produced by manual 

mixing in plastic buckets 

and filled into bottles 

under unhygienic 

conditions. 

Ondo traditional rulers curse kidnappers 

By Dayo Johnson 

AKURE—WORRIED by the 

incessant kidnap of 

traditional rulers in Ondo State, 

the monarchs, yesterday, said 

that perpetrators of the act 

against the traditional stool will 

soon see the wrath of God. 

No fewer than three obas 

have been kidnapped in the 

state and ransoms paid by their 

families before they were 

released. 

The latest was the Oniyani of 

Iyani Akoko, Oba Joel Daudu, 

who spent four days in the 

kidnappers’ den and was 

released after his family 

coughed out N3 million 

ransom. 

The Regent of Akungba 

Akoko, Princess Oluwatoyin 

Omosowon, was kidnapped 

about two years ago and was 

rescued after two weeks by 

security operatives, while 

another Oba from the southern 

senatorial district of the state 

was abducted when he was 

travelling from the riverine 

area to Akure, the state 

capital. 

The obas, under the 

auspices of De-130 Krowns 

Club, at their meeting, 

condemned the kidnaps and 

the inhuman treatment 

meted out to the oba. 

However, Oba Daodu was 

conspicuously absent at the 

obas’ meeting held 

yesterday at Ikare Akoko 

area of the state. 

Addressing newsmen 

FLOODED: Eric Moore Road, Surulere, Lagos, after a downpour, yesterday. NAN PHOTO. 

Drunk breaks mum’s hand, 

commits suicide in Adamawa 

•... as pregnant woman surfaces; says deceased is her lover 

By Umar Yusuf 

YOLA—IT was a mixed bag 

of incidents, yesterday, in 

Yola, the Adamawa State 

capital, when a 23-year-old 

drunkard, Fidelis Musa, 

broke his mother’s hand and 

committed suicide, after which 

a pregnant woman showed 

up, claiming late Musa was 

responsible for her condition. 

His lifeless body was found 

dangling in his room in 

Jimeta, Yola. 

A neighbour, who spoke on 

condition of anonymity, 

described Musa as a drunk 

that always fomented trouble 

in the community. According 

to the source, on the day 

Musa committed suicide, he 

attacked his mother. 

The source said: “The man 

was restless throughout today 

(yesterday); he fought 

everybody that came to their 

house and broke his mother’s 

left hand.” 

Innocent Henry, another 

neighbour added: “Already, 

we have taken the woman to 

a traditional doctor, who is 

working on her bone.” 

Innocent further explained 

that late Musa’s behaviour 

made the family to plan 

deserting the house. He said 

the situation might have 

forced him into drug 

addiction and eventual 

suicide. 

Family members react 

Meanwhile, a senior sister 

to the deceased, who 

preferred anonymity, said the 

family was shocked to note 

that a pregnant lady 

suddenly surfaced in their 

compound, claiming she was 

impregnated by Musa. 

Uncle to the late Musa, Ali 

Hassan, said that the guy 

had been behaving strangely, 

telling all his family 

NIGERIAN troops fighting 

Boko Haram terrorists have 

suffered major setbacks, with the 

terror group sacking an Army 

Battalion, killing eight soldiers 

and wounding 11 others in two 

separate attacks in three days, 

reliable military insiders have 

said. 

The army formations involved 

in the incidents also lost several 

arms and ammunition, and were 

yesterday calling for urgent 

restocking of their armouries, 

according to reports. 

members that one of them 

would pass away this week. 

Hassan said: “I am uncle 

to the deceased. He has been 

making negative 

confessions, especially a day 

to when he died. He told 

everyone that someone will 

die tomorrow within his 

family member. 

“He was an apprentice 

generator repairer. We 

noticed the strange 

behaviour without 

foreknowledge that he was 

going to commit suicide.” 

The state Police Command 

confirmed the incident, 

saying investigation is on. 

The first incident, involving 

troops deployed at the 

Forward Operating Base in 

Sabon Gari, Borno State, 

occurred at about 6p.m. on 

Monday, when over 200 Boko 

Haram terrorists on 

motorcycles suddenly 

descended on the base. 

It was learned that the 

terrorists had five gun trucks 

on which twin-barrelled 

artillery guns were mounted. 

The Nigerian troops fought 

back, but were dislodged from 

after the meeting, the Owa-Ale 

of Ikareland, Oba Kolapo 

Adegbite-Adedoyin, said: “It is 

very unfortunate that obas 

have to be kidnapped by men 

of the underworld. 

“It is even a taboo in 

Yorubaland for anybody, no 

matter how highly-placed, to lay 

his hand on an oba not to talk 

of kidnapping him. 

“This is against the tradition 

and whoever takes part in 

such an act will soon see the 

wrath of God.” 

Oba Adedoyin said there was 

need for the state government 

to ensure adequate security 

and welfare of the obas, while 

commending the roles played 

by the state government and 

the security operatives in the 

release of Oba Daodu. 

Police arrest 

2 in Bauchi 

over robbery, 

killing of 

motorcyclists 

By Peter Duru 

M AKURDI—TWO 

members of a 

syndicate, who rob and 

kill motorcyclists in parts 

of Benue State, have been 

arrested. 

Their arrests were made 

known, yesterday, in 

Makurdi by the state’s 

Police Public Relations 

Officer, Assistant 

Superintendent Moses 

Yamu. 

Yamu said: “Two other 

members of the gang— 

one Adejo, who is the 

gang leader, and Junior, 

real name unknown, 

escaped arrest. The 

suspects have already 

confessed to the crime.” 

The PPRO stated that 

police were on the trail of 

all the fleeing members of 

the syndicate, assuring 

that the gang members 

would be apprehended. 

“Investigation into the 

matter is still ongoing, 

because we want to get to 

the root of the matter and 

ensure that all of them are 

arrested and brought to 

justice,” Yamu added. 

Boko Haram terrorists kill 11 soldiers in Borno 

their location after about an hour 

of battle. 

Five soldiers were killed in 

action, while nine others were 

injured. Four other soldiers were 

missing at press time. Army 

authorities did not immediately 

comment on the development. 

Army authorities keep mum 

Efforts to get Army 

spokesperson, Brigadier General 

Sani Usman; Defence 

spokesperson, Major General 

John Enenche, and Commander

Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017—7 


TRADE LINE: Market on a railroad in Lagos, yesterday. NAN PHOTO. 

Herdsmen kill 3 in Benue reprisal attack 

By Peter Duru 

MAKURDI—ABOUT three 

persons were feared dead 

in a fresh outbreak of crisis 

between Tiv farmers and 

herdsmen at Tse Igba Uke 

village near Ikpayonge in Gwer 

East Local Government Area of 

Benue State. 

It was gathered that the 

herdsmen’s attack was a 

reprisal, following an attack on 

their cattle by some youths of the 

village. 

Yesterday, the attack by the 

herdsmen reportedly sparked 

angry reaction from the 

community youths, who took 

over the popular Makurdi- 

Otukpo Highway, made bonfires 

and disrupted traffic for several 

hours. 

Vanguard gathered that some 

of the stranded motorists 

resorted to fighting with the 

youths, which led to 

pandemonium until the 

policemen came and dispersed 

the youths. 

Contacted, the state’s Police 

Public Relations Officer, 

Assistant Superintendent, 

Moses Yamu, who confirmed the 

crisis in a statement, said two 

people were killed while one 

other was critically injured. 

Part of the statement read: “We 

got report that suspected 

attacks 

of Multi-National Joint Task Force 

in Maiduguri, Major General Leo 

Irabor, were unsuccessful. 

While Usman and Irabor did not 

respond to calls and text messages 

to their respective phone lines 

yesterday, an assistant to Enenche 

said his boss was at a meeting. 

The subordinate, who identified 

himself as Lieutenant Colonel 

Olabisi, said Enenche was holding 

a seminar with defence 

correspondents and will revert 

back as soon as possible. 

Subsequent calls to his phone 

herdsmen attacked Tse Igba Uke 

village, killed one Sunday 

Kachuwa and injured Zongu 

Aliade. 

The corpse was removed, while 

the injured is undergoing 

By Bashir Bello 

KATSINA—A 46-years-old 

man, identified as Ishaku 

Inusa, told newsmen 

yesterday, that he slit the throat 

of a commercial motorcyclist 

(okadaman) because he could 

not afford to pay the fare. 

Inusa, who committed the act 

in Kankara Local Government 

Area of the state, said his two 

parents were alive, pleaded for 

pardon and said he was 

already regretting his actions. 

He was arrested by men of 

Katsina State Police Command. 

two hours later were neither 

answered nor returned. The initial 

text messages sent to his line were 

also not replied to at press time. 

It was gathered that hours after 

the unit retreated from its Sabon 

Gari base, the surviving troops, 

along with reinforcements from 25 

Brigade, returned to the location 

in several armoured cars and 

buses in a counter-attack that was 

largely successful. 

Second attack 

However, two days later, troops 

of 82 Division Task Force Battalion 

ran into an Improvised Explosive 

•Only 2 died —Police 

treatment. 

“Youths at Ikpayongo 

blocked the road in protest, 

killing a passenger in the 

The father of two was 

paraded alongside 22 other 

suspects by the Commander, 

State Anti-Robbery Squad, 

SARS, SP Andrew Alphouse, 

at the Command’s 

headquarters. 

Also paraded was a leader 

of a human trafficking 

syndicate, arrested in Kwado 

while trying to sneak 22 

people out of the country 

through the Nigeria-Niger 

Republic border. 

On the okada incident, SP 

Alphouse said Inusa boarded 

the motorcycle and on the 

Device, IED, laid by the 

terrorists. 

That attack occurred at about 

8:45a.m. yesterday, while the 

soldiers were on administrative 

patrol along the Ngoshe- 

Bokkotinta-Pulka axis. 

Three soldiers were killed in 

the incident, while two were 

injured. The troops also lost one 

gun truck, one mine lab detector 

device and four AK-47 rifles. 

Our sources said a large 

number of terrorists were killed 

in the two incidents, while 

several others escaped with 

gunshot injuries. 

process.” 

He added that policemen 

have been drafted to restore 

normalcy in the area. 

Man slits okadaman’s throat over fare in Katsina 

way he attacked the rider 

and slit his throat, adding 

that the suspect was later 

arrested in custody of the 

deceased motorcycle. 

He said the trafficking 

incident was busted 

following a tip-off provided 

by a good Samaritan, 

adding that the victims— 12 

females and 10 males— 

were mainly indigenes of 

Edo, Delta and Rivers states. 

According to Alphouse, 

they were found with 16 

passports in a house rented 

by their agent in Daki Tara. 

.. as woman allegedly slashes 

friend’s face over child’s paternity 

A 

43-year-old woman, 

Modinat Jide, charged with 

slashing her friend’s face with a 

blade, appeared before an Ebute 

Meta magistrate’s court in 

Lagos, yesterday. 

The accused, who hawks 

sachet water, had accused her 

friend of alleging that her 

husband was not the father of 

her new born child. 

She was arraigned on a 

charge of unlawful assault, 

but pleaded not guilty. 

The prosecutor, Sergeant 

Jimah Iseghede, told the court 

that the accused committed 

the offence on April 18 at 

Jebba Pako Estate, Okobaba 

in Ebute Meta. 

He said the accused 

claimed that the complainant, 

Wunmi Ajoke, had alleged 

that her husband was not the 

father of her new born child. 

He said the accused had, 

consequently, used a blade to 

slash Ajoke's face for daring 

to call her promiscuous. 

According to the prosecutor, 

the offence contravenes 

Section 173 of the Criminal 

Law of Lagos State, 2015. 

The magistrate, Miss Tolu 

Idowu, granted her N100,000 

bail with two responsible 

sureties in like sum and 

adjourned the case till May 

15 for mention. 

Navy foils 

pipeline 

vandalisation, 

recovers 972 

drums 

By Evelyn Usman 

THE Nigerian Navy 

has foiled attempt by 

vandals to break 

pipelines belonging to 

Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation, 

NNPC, which pumps 

petroleum products from 

Atlas Cove, Lagos, to 

Mosimi depot, Ogun 

State. 

About 972 drums, 595 

jerry cans and four boats 

were recovered. 

Vanguard gathered that 

the vandals were sighted 

in boats on anchorage in 

Jegeme community along 

Badary/Benin Republic 

route, by a team of naval 

personnel from the 

Forward Operating Base, 

Badagry, at about 5p.m., 

Monday. 

The personnel, said to 

be on surveillance, called 

for assistance from NNS 

Beecroft, Apapa, and 

patrol boats were 

deplored to the scene. 

On sighting the 

personnel, the vandals, 

escaped, abandoning four 

boats. 

No fewer than 972 

empty drums and 595 

jerry cans, according to 

the Commander of NNS 

Beecroft, Commodore 

Eno Maurice, were 

recovered in the boats. 

In addition, he said 

three pumping machines, 

three coils of rubber hoses 

and 14 outboard engines 

were also recovered in the 

boats. 

The seeming return of 

pipeline vandals to the 

axis could not be 

unconnected with the 

repairs of the damaged 

pipelines and subsequent 

pumping of petroleum 

products from Atlas Cove 

to Mosimi depot. 

Handing the recovered 

items to the Nigeria 

Security and Civil 

Defense Corps, NSCDC, 

yesterday, Commodore 

Maurice reiterated the 

Navy’s commitment to 

checkmating activities of 

vandals and other 

criminalities within the 

nation’s waters under its 

jurisdiction. 

Maurice said: “We have 

intelligence that there are 

other collaborators in 

pipeline vandalism and 

oil theft. 

“The Navy uses this 

medium to warn pipeline 

vandals and other criminals, 

particularly in our 

maritime environment.”



Osinbajo not qualified to probe SGF 

—NLC 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA —THE Nigeria 

Labour Congress, 

NLC, has commended 


Buhari for suspending 



Federation, SGF, Mr. David 

Babachir Lawal and 

Director-General of 


Agency, NIA, Ambassador 

Ayo Oke. 

This came as Senior Staff 

Association of Nigerian 

Universities, SSANU, 

yesterday, urged the 

President to purge his 

cabinet of corrupt elements, 

saying “a lot of them have 

one mess or the other.” 

Reacting to the 

suspension of the SGF and 

the D-G, NIA, General 

Secretary of the NLC, Dr. 

Peter Ozo-Eson, wondered 

why the Vice President 

should be the person to 

investigate criminal 

allegations against the SGF. 

He said: “Well, we think 

that it is something that is 

positive. There are those 

who will say that it has 

taken long, particularly the 

issue of the SGF. Well, 

government has now 

decided to suspend them 

and investigation is going 

on, it is fine. 

“But what we don’t 

understand is how an 

administrative committee, 

chaired by the Vice 

President, will be 

investigating what is an 

alleged criminal offence. 

However, whatever 

processes they have chosen 

to adopt, what is important 

is that they need to bring 

the facts before the nation. 

“We need to know that 

there are no sacred cows 

and at the end of the day, 

we hope that justice will be 

done and citizens will be 

able to attest that justice has 

been done.” 

On whether the president 

should extend the action to 

other political office holders 

having corruption 

allegations against them, 

Ozo-Eson said the normal 

practice was that people 

with established corruption 

cases against them should 

step aside. 

He said: “Once there are 

allegations of corruption 

and there are prima facie 

cases established while 

such investigation is going 

on, the normal practice is 

that people step aside, or 

are suspended or they 

remove themselves from 

the process." 

Also reacting to the 

suspension, National 

President of SSANU, 

Comrade Samson Chijioke 

Ugwoke, said: “Should 

Buhari be serious with his 

•SSANU urges President to purge cabinet of corrupt elements 

anti-graft campaign, the 

Presidency should not be 

investigating the SGF and 


“If somebody in the 

Presidency is accused of 

corruption, the usual anticorruption 

agencies that 

investigate other ones, 

should also investigate the 

SGF. The Presidency 

should not investigate 

Presidency, nobody should 

be a judge in his own case. 

VISIT: From left, Mr. Tunde Fowler, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue 

Service, FIRS, and Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman, 

Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, during a courtesy visit by the 

FIRS Chairman to the commission, in Abuja. 

Paschal Dike, JCI President, to unveil 

ExCEL 360 tomorrow 

THE first Nigerian to 

be elected world 

President of Junior 

Chamber International, 

JCI, Mr Paschal Dike, 

will tomorrow unveil a 

new platform, ExCEL 

360, aimed at inspiring 

ordinary people to do 

extraordinary things. 

The platform will 

present Dike’s story and 

journey over the years. 

Dike, who is the Chief 

Executive Officer, said 

the new platform was 

established to achieve 

three things for 

individual and 

organizational entities. 

He said the story of a 

Nigerian, who moved 

from a typical African 

village to the global 

stage, would be told at 

the event, which would 

herald the birth of the 

new organisation, 

ExCEL 360. 

He said: “In the light 

of this, I will be 

presenting the story of 

my journey to the public, 

believing there are a lot 

of lessons to draw from 

it. And then proceed to 

launch ExCEL 360 Plus 

(Excellence in 

Communication, 

Entrepreneurship and 

Leadership). 

‘’This platform is 

founded to inspire 

ordinary people to do 

extraordinary things; 

and the ultimate goal is 

to win in life. 

"With the resources at 

our disposal, we will 

instil in all who 

encounter ExCEL 360 

Plus how to do three 

things: to dare, to bear 

and to win.’’ 

Speakers expected at 

the event include 

Founder, Rose of Sharon 

Foundation, Mrs. 

Folorunso Alakija, who 

would speak as guest 

speaker on the topic, 

Securing the Future; the 

price and the prize; 

President, Nigeria 

Internet Registration 

Association, Sunday 

Folayan, will speak on 

the topic, Man vs 

Machine: How to 

survive the Robotic 

Revolution. 

Chairman, Soni Irabor 

Group, Mr. Soni Irabor, 

would speak on the 

topic, Solving The 

Leadership Quagmire: 

The Communication 

Masterstroke. 

Police raid Goje’s house 

in Asokoro 

•Uncover N18m, $19,000, 4,000 

Saudi Riyal 

By Henry Umoru 

ABUJA—THE Police, 

yesterday, raided the 

Asokoro residence of 

former governor of Gombe 

State and Chairman, 

Senate Committee on 

Appropriations, Senator 

Danjuma Goje. 

Goje, who represents 

Gombe Central, was 

elected on the platform of 

All Progressives Congress, 

APC. 

A source told Vanguard 

that the police stormed the 

10 Haile Selassie Street, 

Asokoro, residence of the 

senator, acting on a tip-off 

by a whistleblower. 

The source also told 

Vanguard that at the end 

of the search which lasted 

hours, N18 million; $19,000 

and 4,000 Saudi Riyal were 

found in his house. 

Efforts to reach Senator 

Goje on his two mobile 

phone numbers as well as 

those of his aides by 

Vanguard proved futile as 

they were switched off. 

Jimoh Moshood, 

spokesman of the police, 

could not be reached for 

comments at press time. 

But a senior police source, 

who preferred anonymity, 

confirmed that the senator’s 

house was raided but did 

not give details. 

NHIS expels 23,000 fake 

enrolees in three months 

— Scribe 

NATIONAL Health 

Insurance Scheme, 

NHIS, said, yesterday, that 

it has expelled 23,000 fake 

enrolees from the scheme 

in the past three months. 

Executive Secretary of the 

scheme, Usman Yusuf, 

revealed this at a forum 

organised by the Nigeria 

Health Watch, in Abuja. 

Yusuf noted that those 

numbers were infused into 

the scheme by the Health 

Maintenance 

Organisation, HMOs, to 

increase the number of 

enrolees due to selfish 

gains among others. 

He emphasised that 

before the discovery, the 

scheme has been paying 

N1,000 in 23,000 places 

World oil demand to rise 

—OPEC 

A BUJA—THE 

Organisation of 

Petroleum Exporting 

Countries, OPEC, has 

said demand for oil 

around the world was 

expected to rise. 

OPEC said this in the 

April edition of its 

Monthly Oil Market 

Report. 

World oil demand 

growth in 2016 was kept 

broadly unchanged at 

1.38 million barrels per 

day (mb/d), averaging 

95.05 mb/d. 

monthly. 

The secretary, however, 

noted that the scheme 

would soon commence 

biometric auditing to further 

sanitise the system. 

He emphasised that 

NHIS with its mandate, has 

the potential to change the 

life of Nigerians. 

He expressed the 

displeasure over the 

meagre resources allocated 

to the scheme which is not 

enough as subsidy to the 

HMOs. 

Mr. Yusuf described 

HMOs as the problem of 

NHIS, noting that after 

giving them money three 

months ahead to pay for 

enrolees and their families 

healthcare services they 

find it difficult to release 

such monies to hospitals. 

FG requires N60trn to bridge 

housing deficits —FMBN boss 

By Chris Ochayi 

ABUJA— NIGERIA 

requires N60 trillion 

to bridge the 17 million 

housing deficits 

confronting it, new 

Managing Director of 

the Federal Mortgage 

Bank of Nigeria, FMBN, 

Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, 

has said. 

Dangiwa, who 

disclosed this during the 

handling over ceremony 

of the affairs of the bank 

to his team by the 

outgoing Acting 


the FMBN, Mr. Richard 

Esin, vowed the new 

team under him will put 

in place innovative 

solutions that must 

bridge the huge gap in 

order to meet the 

affordable mass housing 

needs of Nigerians. 

Dangiwa added that 

the administration will 

also develop a well 

functioning mortgage 

finance market that is 

able to attract large, 

long-term local and 

foreign investments 

needed to promote a 

vibrant, competitive, 

innovative and 

sustainable housing 

market driven primarily 

by private sector and 

public-private 

partnership, PPP, with 

FMBN acting as a 

facilitator, regulator and 

enabler. 

According to him, 

“meeting the affordable 

mass housing needs of 

Nigeria remains a major 

challenge, with 

estimated 17 million 

housing deficits in the 

country, which is 

anticipated to cost almost 

N60 trillion. Innovative 

solutions must be put in 

place to bridge this large 

gap. FMBN and by 

extension, all of us, have 

strategic roles to play in 

this respect." 

“For 2017, oil demand 

growth is anticipated to 

be around 1.27 mb/d, 

following an upward 

revision of 10 trillion 

barrels daily to average 

96.32 mb/d,” the report 

stated. 

It also said the Asia 

group, includeing India, 

was anticipated to lead 

oil demand growth this 

year followed by China 

and the Organisation for 

Economic Co-operation 

and Development, 

OECD, Americas.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017— 9

10 — VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 


SERVICE OF SONGS FOR CHIEF FRANCIS IFIDON 

From left; Ayemere Ifidon, Iria Ifidon; Gladys Ifidon; Aregbe Ifidon; Siseunny 

Oiseomoje Ifidon, first son; Oise Ben Ifidon and Ekinomo ifidon, all children of late 

Chief Francis Kehinde Ifidon (JP) during a service of songs for the deceased at his 

residence in Karimu Street, Surulere Lagos. PHOTOS BY AKEEM SALAU. 

From left; Mr Gbenga Adefaye, General Manager/Editor in Chief, Vanguard 

Newspapers; Mr Felix Ovbude and Mr Solomon Agbebaku. 

From left; Mrs Rabiat Abiola; Mrs Abosede Williams and Mrs Yetunde Ogundare. 

NEGLIGENCE: Lagos sacks 42 health workers, 

seals 160 facilities •To review mental health law 

By Chioma Obinna 

& Monsuru 

Olowoopejo 

LAGOS 

State 

government said it 

has sacked no fewer than 

42 health workers over 

negligence of duty, even as 

it sealed 160 hospitals and 

illegal pharmacies within 

the year under review. 

Meanwhile, the 

government yesterday 

disclosed that plans have 

been concluded to review 

the Mental Health Law of 

the state, to conform with 

current trends. 

Commissioner for Health, 

Dr. Jide Idris and his 

Women Affairs and Poverty 

Alleviation (WAPA) 

counterpart, Mrs. Lola 

Akande, made the 

disclosures during 2017 

ministerial press briefing at 

the Secretariat, Ikeja. 

According to Idris; “We 

are set to review the mental 

health law in Lagos State. 

What we found out is that 

the National Mental 

Health, which is being 

used here is outdated, it is 

over 60 years.” 

He added that the draft 

of the new mental law is 

currently receiving inputs 

at the state Ministry of 

Justice, noting 93 health 

professionals were 

trained on mental health 

at the Lagos State 

University Teaching 

Hospital to handle 

mental health issues at 

both local government 

councils and primary 

health care centres. 

On dismissal of medical 

personnel, Idris said their 

action was against the 

Government efforts to 

improve healthcare 

delivery in the state. 

The commissioner 

assured residents of Lagos 

that the government would 

address all whatever 

challenges that may arise 

in any of its facilities. 

700 domestic violence 

cases recorded in 2016 

Earlier, Akande disclosed 

that 700 domestic violence 

cases were recorded in 

2016, lamenting that 

number of domestic 

violence in the state 

increased in the year 

under review. 

PROVIDUS BANK OPENING: 

Ambode seeks harmonisation 

of forex, interest rates 

•Lauds FG's economic recovery, growth plan 

L 

A G O S — 

GOVERNOR 

Akinwunmi Ambode, 

yesterday called for a 

convergence in the foreign 

exchange rates, as well as 

deliberate strategy to force 

down the inflation to a 

single digit and reduce 

interest rates as a means to 

stabilize the economy and 

put ailing businesses back 

on track. 

The governor, who said 

this at the commissioning 

of ultra-modern 

headquarters of Providus 

Bank in Lagos, added that 

such would enable more 

business people to access 

funds and meet their 

obligations. 

Expressing optimism 

that the economy was 

gradually making steady 

move out of recession, the 

governor said proactive 

steps must now be taken 

to sustain the successes 

recorded so far. 

Alluding to a recent report 

of World Economics 

revealing that the 

Nigerian economy would 

soon grow out of recession, 

Ambode expressed delight 

at the fact that the 

consistent investment of the 

state government in critical 

sectors contributed to the 

By Lawani Mikairu 

AIR Peace airline, 

yesterday, grounded 

two of its planes after they 

collided when one of them 

was being towed at the ramp 

of the General Aviation 

Terminal, GAT, of Murtala 

Muhammed Airport, Lagos 

to position for departure. 

One of the planes, a B737 

aircraft with registration 

mark 5N-BQR wings 

brushed the wings of 

another stationary plane 

with registration mark 5N- 

BQP on the ramp. There 

were no passengers on the 

two aircraft involved in the 

incident 

This incident is coming 

barely 48 hours after Aero 

Contractors Lagos bound 

flight with 53 passengers on 

aboard developed fault 

mid-air. 

Air Peace said as a 

precautionary measure, the 

two aircraft have been taken 

out for proper checking and 

servicing. And the two 

planes flight schedules for 

the day have been 

rescheduled and will be 

resurgence of the economy. 

“While we are delighted 

that our efforts have 

contributed to this 

resurgence of the economy, 

there is still more to be 

done. The next steps are to 

achieve a convergence in 

the foreign exchange rates, 

force down the inflation to 

a single digit and reduce 

interest rates. This will 

enable more business 

people to access funds and 

meet their obligations,” he 

said. 

Besides, the governor 

commended President 

Muhammadu Buhari over 

the Economic Recovery 

and Growth Plan, ERGP, 

recently released by the 

Federal Government. 

He said the economic 

blueprint would go a long 

way in charting the course 

for the economic recovery 

and growth desired by all. 

He also commended the 

Central Bank of Nigeria, 

CBN, for efforts at 

stabilizing the exchange 

rates, and expressed 

optimism that the steps 

being adopted would help 

ailing businesses to bounce 

back to profitability. 

The governor said his 

administration has 

maintained a consistent 

Air Peace grounds two 

planes after collision 

absolved by other planes 

in the fleet 

Reacting to the incident, 

Mr Christian Iwara, 

Corporate Communication, 

Air Peace, said: “ We confirm 

that at about 6.15am today, 

the winglet of our B737 

aircraft with registration 

mark 5N-BQR, which was 

being towed within the very 

limited space at the ramp 

of the Murtala 

Muhammed Airport in 

Lagos to position for 

departure, had a partial 

contact with the stabiliser of 

another of our B737 aircraft 

with registration mark 5N- 

BQP.” 

“Although the points of 

contact of the two aircraft 

were only slightly 

impacted, we took the 

cautious decision to declare 

them unserviceable to 

enable proper investigation 

of the incident, checks and 

repair by our Engineering 

and Maintenance 

Department in line with our 

high safety standards. 

“There were no 

passengers on the planes 

involved in the incident.'' 

programme of actively 

reflating the economy 

through massive 

expenditure in 

infrastructural 

development and 

engaging competent local 

contractors who in turn 

employ the people. 

He said from April last 

year to March 2017, a total 

of N16.9 billion was 

released as payment of 

pension arrears in the state, 

while N2 billion was 

disbursed to young 

entrepreneurs and artisans 

under the N25 billion 

Employment Trust Fund, 

ETF, scheme. 

The governor, who 

equally commended the 

management of Providus 

Bank for their commitment 

to positively impact the 

banking sector, urged them 

to come up with 

programmes that would 

bring more financial 

inclusion to Lagos 

specifically in the area of 

access to financial services. 

Earlier, Managing 

Director of the bank, Mr 

Walter Akpani commended 

Governor Ambode for the 

massive infrastructural 

development in the State 

and the efforts at enhancing 

ease of doing business. 

Abiodun for 

burial 

MRS. Evelyn Bose 

Abiodun (née 

Aragbaiye) is dead. She 

died March 22, 2017 in a 

London hospital. 

Burial arrangement kicks 

off tomorrow with service of 

songs at Church of 

England, St Luke’s Church, 

London. SE25 4RB. 

Christian wake holds on 

April 27 at Federal Housing 

Authority Estate, Owo, 

Ondo State. 

Another service of songs 

holds on April 28, at St. 

Patrick’s Anglican Church, 

Ijebu Owo, Ondo State, to 

be followed by interment. 

She was survived by 

widower and three 

children. 

Late Mrs. Abiodun

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 — 11 


Berger traders helpless as govt demolishes shops 

By Olasunkanmi 

Akoni & Monsuru 

Olowoopejo 

L 

A G O S — 

HUNDREDS of 

traders and shop owners at 

the Popular Ojodu Berger 

Market, Ojodu Local 

Council Development 

Area, LCDA, Lagos State 

are counting their losses, 

following the demolition of 

the facility by suspected 

agents of the state 

government. 

When Vanguard visited 

the site of the demolition 

yesterday, the traders were 

seen salvaging their wares 

from the shops. 


the market was demolished 

on Wednesday in 

compliance with Lagos 

High Court judgment in a 

suit number: ID/10900/ 

2000. 

There were however, 

different accounts of the 

reasons for the demolition. 

While some accused an 

unnamed former governor 

of being responsible for the 

Navy foils vandals' attempt 

to break pipeline 

By Evelyn Usman 

THE Nigerian Navy 

has foiled attempt by 

pipeline vandals to break 

pipeline belonging to the 



NNPC, which pumps 


Atlas Cove, Lagos to 

Mosimi depot, Ogun State 

recovering 972 drums and 

595 jerricans, including 

four boats. 


the vandals were sighted 

in some boats on 

anchorage in Jegeme 

community along Badary/ 

Benin Republic route, by 

a team of naval personnel 

from the Forward 

Operating Base , Badagry, 

at about 5pm, Monday. 

The personnel said to be 

on surveillance, called for 

assistance from the 

Nigerian Navy Ship , NNS 

Beecroft , Apapa, 

consequent upon which 

patrol boats were deplored 

to the scene but on 

sighting the personnel, the 

vandals, escaped , 

abandoning four boats . 

When checked, 972 

empty drums according to 

the Commander, NNS 

Beecroft , Commodore Eno 

Maurice , were recovered 

in the boats including 595 

jerricans . In addition, he 

said three pumping 

machines, three coils of 

rubber hoses and 14 

outboard engines were 

also recovered in the boats. 

The seeming return of 

pipeline vandals to the axis 

is connected to the repairs 

of the damaged pipelines 

and subsequent pumping of 


Atlas Cove to Mosimi depot. 

Handing the recovered 

items to the Nigerian Civil 

Defense Corps, NSCDC, 

yesterday, Commodore 

Maurice reiterated Navy’s 

commitment to checkmate 

activities of vandals and 

other criminality within the 

nation’s water under its 

jurisdiction. 

Recalling that a similar 

arrest was made around 

the axis last month, 

Maurice said: “We have 

cogent intelligence that 

there are other 

collaborators that indulge 

in pipeline vandalism and 

oil theft around there.'' 

The Navy then warned 

pipeline vandals and other 

criminal elements 

particularly in the maritime 

environment to turn a new 

leaf and pursue legal means 

of livelihood, otherwise the 

law will catch up with them. 

He therefore, called on 

members of the public, 

particularly those living 

within riverine areas to give 

useful information on all 

forms of criminality going on 

within their vicinities. 

Receiving the boats, the 

Commandant, NSCDC, 

Tajudeen Balogun, said the 

Corps would begin its 

investigation from where the 

Navy stopped. He warned 

oil thieves to desist from 

illegality and find legitimate 

business to engage in. 

ROBBERY, KIDNAPPING: Ondo 

CP tours Akure-Ilesha highway 


A KURE—ONDO 

State Police 

command has assured 

travellers along the 

notorious Akure-Ilesha 

highway of the security of 

their lives and properties. 

This followed the incessant 

robbery activities on the 

highway by armed robbers 

suspected to be herdsmen. 

Robbery activities on the 

highway have created fear 

in the hearts of travellers 

and motorists plying the road 

in the last few weeks. 

Prompted by a report in 

Vanguard, the state Police 

commissioner, Hilda 

Harrison, who took 

newsmen on tour of the 

road promised hard times 

for robbers. 

demolition, others claimed 

the land had been under 

global acquisition for years. 

Military personnel 

attached to Operation 

MESA, OP MESA, were 

seen at strategic areas to 

ensure peace was 

maintained. 

The military men were 

however hostile as they 

detained anyone found 

recording their activities at 

the scene. 

According to sources, the 

law enforcement personnel 

stormed the market at about 

10 am on the fateful day 

and ordered the traders to 

vacate the market. 

Narrating how the activity 

was carried out, the Chief 

Security Officer of the 

market, who spoke under 

anonymity, said; “I 

remember that when they 

arrived, they immediately 

shut the pedestrian gate 

and displaced my 

colleagues at the main 

entrance. Few minutes 

after, they ordered the 

traders to leave 

immediately. 

“Some of the traders could 

not even remove their wares 

because we had not 

received prior notice on the 

issue.” 

A trader, Adebimpe 

Adebiyi, said: “It is pathetic 

that despite paying monthly 

rent, our stalls were 

demolished in this manner. 

I know that those collecting 

the rent were aware that 

there was a pending 

court case but they didn’t 

alert us. Infact, some of 

the traders just paid three 

months rents advance.” 

AFRICAN DRUMS FESTIVAL: From left; Governor Ibikunle Amosun of 

Ogun State; his wife, Olufunso; Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Ogun 

State Deputy Governor, Chief Yetunde Onanuga at the opening ceremonies 

of the 2017 African Drums Festival in Abeokuta...yesterday. 

Cabal exercising President Buhari's power 

— FAYOSE 

By Rotimi 

Ojomoyela 

A DO-EKITI— 

MIFFED by the 

persistent absence of 


Buhari from state functions, 

especially the weekly 

Federal Executive Council, 

FEC, meetings, Ekiti State 

Governor, Mr Ayodele 

Harrison said that the 

command had deployed a 

24 hour police patrol on the 

highway so as to ensure the 

road is safe for all. 

She pointed out that both 

plainclothe and uniformed 

detectives now keep vigil 

on the highway. 

Harrison, who lauded 

the Inspector General of 

Police and the Governor 

Rotimi Akeredolu for the 

provision of logistics, 

vowed to run the bandits 

out of the troubled area. 

She said since the robbery 

incident on the road in which 

the former Managing 

Director of Daily Times, 

Adinoyi Onukaba was 

killed, relative peace had 

returned to the highway 

following the deployment of 

its officers to the area. 

Fayose, yesterday queried 

whether or not the 

president was now 

governing the country by 

proxy. 


governor, “Every day, what 

we hear is President said 

this, President said that 

without seeing the 

President at any official 

function and one is 

prompted to ask; where is 

the president?” 

Fayose, in a statement 

issued in Ado Ekiti by the 

his Special Assistant on 

Public Communications 

and New Media, Lere 

Olayinka, said it was 

becoming obvious that a 

group of cabal is exercising 

the powers of the President. 

CHI 

Limited, 

Chivita fruit juice 

owners has unveiled a new 

television commercial, 

#BreakfastWithChivita100% 

breaks. 


company, the campaign is 

part of the efforts to 

reinforce the brand’s 

position and drive 

awareness for a complete 

healthy breakfast. 

It also said the new 

television advertisement is 

a step ahead in terms of 

messaging, production 

quality and unique 

“I saw the Secretary to 

the Government of the 

Federation, SGF, Mr 

Babachir Lawal on 

television responding to his 

suspension and what came 

to my mind was that there 

could actually be many 

‘presidents’ operating in 

Buhari’s presidency. 

“Most importantly, the 

President did not attend the 

FEC meeting last week and 

the meeting did not hold 

this week under the flimsy 

excuse that Easter break 

stalled it. How could Easter 

break that ended on 

Monday be responsible for 

the inability to hold FEC 

meeting on Wednesday? 

Definitely, there is more to 

this than meets the eye.'' 

Chi out with new TV commercial 

delivery style. 

According to Mr. Probal 

Bhattacharya, Head of 

Marketing, the television 

commercial showcases the 

creativity and strategic 

intent of the brand 

managers as every quality 

of Chivita 100% fruit juice 

is portrayed with sublime 

imageries. 

He said: “It also 

engages consumers by 

showcasing internationally 

renowned football stars like 

Wayne Rooney, Juan 

Mata, Marcus Rashford 

and Eric Bailly.” 

Lagos govt 

sues FG over 

stamp duty 

By Abdulwahab 

Abdulah 

THE Lagos State 


taken the bull by the horn 

in an effort to compel the 

Federal Government to 

remit all monies collected 

as stamp duties from 

Nigerians and companies 

within Lagos State from last 

year January. 

In an originating 

summons brought 

pursuant to Section 232 of 

the 1999 Constitution filed 

before the Supreme Court, 

the Lagos State 

government is praying the 

court to determine the 

propriety of the Federal 

Government collection 

stamp duties within the 

territory of the state 

government without 

remitting the net proceed 

to the state. 

The suit marked SC245/ 

2017 was filed on behalf of 

the Lagos State 

Government by the state 

Attorney General, Mr. 

Adeniji Kazeem against 

the Attorney General of the 

Federation. 

The state government 

wants the apex court to 

determine among other 

things, whether the 

Federal Government has 

any power to collect and 

keep money paid as stamp 

duty on behalf of federating 

units pursuant to sections 

4(1) of the stamp duty act, 

cap s8 Laws of the 

Federation of Nigeria, 

2004. 

The summons is also 

praying the court to 

determine whether in view 

of the provisions of section 

4(2) of the Stamp Duties 

Act, Lagos Government is 

entitled to collect duties in 

respect of instruments 

executed between persons 

or individual transactions 

within the territory of Lagos. 

Lagos government also 

wants the apex court to 

determine whether in view 

of the clear provisions of 

section 4 (1) and (2) of the 

Stamp Duties Act Cap S8, 

the defendant through its 

banker, Central Bank of 

Nigeria, CBN, possess the 

power and authority to 

collect and keep custody of 

the deducted sum remitted 

to it by commercial banks 

operating in the territory of 

Lagos State from January 

15, 2016 till date. 

On the determination of 

the issues raised in the 

summon, the plaintiff is 

praying the court to declare 

among other things that the 

Lagos State Government is 

entitled to duties in 

respect



Criminality has reduced in N-Delta —DIG 

Inyang •As Dickson tasks Police on grassroots policing 

NDDC to recover funds from 

defaulting contractors 

Col Owan for burial 

THE late Colonel 

Michael Owan 

(retd), aged 58, will be 

laid to rest tomorrow at 

his family compound in 

Oku Aro, Boki Local 

Government Area of 

Cross River State. 

He was living in Abuja 

after his retirement from 

the Nigerian Army. 

Owan is survived by 

widow, children and 

Akpan-Otu for burial 

MR. Edet Okon 

Akpan-Otu, of 

Ikot Nseyen Umana, 

Akwa Ibom State, is 

dead, aged 68. 

His remains will be 

buried tomorrow at his 

residence in Ikot 

Nseyen, Etinan, along 

old Etinan-Abak Road. 

He is survived by a 

widow, children, grand 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha & Emem 

Idio 

YENAGOA — 

DEPUTY Inspector- 

General of Police in Charge 

of Training and 

Development, Mr 

Emmanuel Inyang, 

yesterday, said that 

criminality in the Niger 

Delta region has dropped 

drastically in the last two 

months. 

He said that the Police 

will continue to restrategise 

to ensure the 

protection of lives and 

property in the region. 

Inyang, the Supervising 

Officer in Charge of the 

South South geo-political 

zone, stated this in 

Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, in 

continuation of his tour of 

Zones 5 and 6 of police 

formations. 

Meanwhile, Governor 

Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa 

State, yesterday, lauded 

the resolve of the Nigeria 

Police to create more 

commands to bring police 

other relations. 

Late Col Owan 

children and many other 

relations. 

Late Edet Akpan-Otu 

closer to the people at the 

grassroots. 

Dickson made the 

commendation in Yenagoa 

while receiving the Deputy 

Inspector- General of Police, 

DIG, in charge of the South 

South geopolitical zone, 

Mr. Emmanuel Inyang. 

Represented by his 

deputy, Rear Admiral 

Gboribiogha John-Jonah 

(retd), Dickson described 

the Police as the only 

security agency that 

penetrates the country 

Amitaye, SEPLAT empower Delta community 

youths 

CHIEF 

Anthony 

Amitaye, President, 

Ugborhen community and 

management of SEPLAT 

Petroleum Development 

Company Limited, have 

flagged off another round 

of empowerment 

programmes in Ugborhen 

district of Sapele Local 

Government Area of Delta 

State. 

Amitaye and SEPLAT, led 

by Mr. Lucky Obiuwevbi, 

Base Manager, started the 

second batch with 35 skill 

By Jimitota 

Onoyume 

PORT 

HAR- 

COURT— NIGER 

Delta Development 

Commission, NDDC, is 

set to recover funds from 

defaulting contractors 

acquisition trainees going 

home with starter packs 

worth N21 million and a 

cash support of N3.5 

million. 

The participants smiled 

home with N100,000 each 

to serve as initial capital to 

acquire shops for the 

businesses they were 

trained in. 

Speaking at the event, 

Amitaye charged the 

youths to make good use 

of the starter packs to 

enable them grow their 

businesses and become 

handling its projects in 

the Niger Delta regoin. 


the commission, Mr 

Nsima Ekere, disclosed 

this, yesterday, in Port 

Harcourt, Rivers State, at 

the end of a 

management committee 

financially independent, 

warning the recipients 

against selling the starter 

packs, as that will mean 

trading off their destinies. 

Responding on behalf of 

recipients, Mr. Sunday 

Agbamu expressed their 

appreciation to the 

community leadership and 

SEPLAT, adding, “We are 

grateful to our President 

General, Chief Amitaye, 

who has made us 

employers of labour instead 

of unemployed youths with 

no skills.” 

meeting, adding that the 

commission had devised 

measures to recover the 

funds. 

Urging contractors to 

ensure they returned to 

site within the next two 

weeks, Ekere said that 

the Federal Government 

was determined to speed 

up development in the 

region. 

He said that the 

commission had started 

compiling names of 

defaulting contractors in 

the region for necessary 

action, warning those 

who had been mobilised 

but have not returned to 

site to do so immediately 

to avoid embarrassment. 

He enjoined 

stakeholders in the 

region to be actively 

involved in efforts by the 

commission to drive 

development in the 

region. 

He added: “It is 

important for our 

contractors to realise that 

it can no longer be 

business as usual. It is 

important for everyone 

doing business with 

NDDC to realise that 

things must be done 

properly, how they ought 

to be done and when 

they ought to be done.” 

more as well as an 

important element in 

security and disaster 

management. 

He said that the creation 

of additional police 

commands would expand 

the reach of police to the 

grassroots. 

Tasking the police on 

democratic policing, the 

governor urged them to 

address the issues of 

logistics challenges among 

its officers and the training 

of personnel. 

He assured the visiting 

DIG of the state 

government's continued 

partnership to ensure safety 

of lives and property in the 

state. 

Inyang, continuing, said 

though the Nigerian Police 

under the Command of the 


Mr Ibrahim Idris noticed 

the prevalence of cultism, 

kidnapping and armed 

robbery in the region, the 

police in synergy with 

other sister security 

agencies have brought the 

crime rate under control. 

Group cries out over terror 

gangs’ invasion of Sapele 

By Emma Amaize 

S APELE—THE 

Sapele Peace and 

Security Intelligence 

Group, Sapele, Delta State, 

yesterday, raised alarm that 

some new terror gangs 

have taken over the town, 

kidnapping no fewer than 

10 persons recently. 

The group, in a statement 

by its patron, Chief 

Omolubi Newuwumi, said: 

“Recently, a new set of 

terror gangs have started 

invading Sapele and 

environs with the rate of 

kidnapping and robbery in 

the town escalating to about 

10 persons in the less than 

four months. 

“One of the first persons 

kidnapped, this year, 

happens to be the eldest 

man in Ajojughwor, an 

Itsekiri community in 

Sapele. Another victim, 

who recounted his 

experience, said he was 

abducted by an eight-man 

kidnap gang, six of them 

brandishing AK 47 rifles 

with triple magazines each. 

“The recent one, which is 

most disturbing and 

surprising, involved a 

woman, one Mrs Odebala, 

who ran into a restaurant, 

but the gangsters dressed 

in bullet proof vests, broke 

into the eating joint, 

dragged her out and took 

her away in their vehicle,” 

the group said. 

The group also narrated 

how the hoodlums stormed 

a big store in the area and 

carted away virtually all the 

items in the place without 

fear of being accosted. 

It said: “We want the state 

government to make known 

to the present Joint Task 

Force, JTF, that there was 

JTF in the town before now, 

which brought crime rate to 

almost zero per cent, but 

now it has increased to 99.9 

per cent. 

“Swift action should be 

taken on this issue as 

Sapele is too small for the 

rate of hoodlums involved 

in this kind of criminality. 

This is a town where a 

naval base is stationed, 

various units of JTF and 

army checkpoints, not to 

mention the police and 

DSS, yet crime rate is 

increasing daily." 

C 

M 

Y 

K

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017—13 


Rivers community begs FG for licence 

to operate refinery 

By Davies 

Iheamnachor 

PORT 

HAR- 

COURT—THE 

people of Wakirike in 

Okirika Local 

Government Area, Rivers 

State, have pleaded with 


to give them licence to 

operate modular 

refinery. 

The people made the 

call, yesterday, in 

Okochiri, headquarters 

of Okirika Local 

Government Area of the 

state, during a 

sensitisation for youths 

tagged: ‘End the 

Sabotage, Save the 

Future, Say no to 

Pipeline Vandalism and 

Oil Theft; Think Modular 

Refining: A New way to 

go,’ organised by Oil and 

Gas Surveillance 

Stakeholders Forum and 

Okirika LGA. 

A chief in Okirika, 

Chief Tamuno 

Akaluogba, who 

represented the 

Chairman of Council of 

Chiefs in the area, Chief 

Amiesimaka Kala- 

Owolo, at the event, and 

the ex-Niger Delta 

agitator, Chief Ateke 

Tom, said Okirika was 

prepared to begin the 

operation of a modular 

refinery if the Federal 

Government gives them 

the opportunity. 

Akaluogbo said that 

the people of the area 

had suffered a great deal 

from oil exploration and 

that the Federal 

Government should 

reward them with the 

licence. 

He said: “The people of 

Okirika request for a 

licence to operate our 

own modular refinery 

first from the Federal 

Government before other 

people started because 

we have suffered very 

much from oil impact. 

“We have all it takes to 

build our own modular 

refinery. The Federal 

Government should 

approve it for the people 

of Okirika. Our chiefs, 

including Chief Ateke 

Tom, hate oil theft and 

illegal refining. We are 

capable of operating it 

because we have all the 

required resources, if the 

Federal Government 

gives us the go ahead to 

CRUTECH to suspend 11,119 students for 

nonpayment of fees 

By Ike 

Uchechukwu 

C ALABAR— 

ACADEMIC 

activities at the Cross 

River State University of 

Technology, CRUTECH, 

Calabar, are almost 

grounded following the 

inability of about 11,119 

students to pay their 

mandatory fees for more 

build one.” 

Akaluogbo, however, 

enjoined the Federal 

Government to call the 

security agencies in the 

state to order over poor 

handling of recovered 

stolen crude oil, 

stressing that such 

products should not be 

destroyed but returned 

to the refinery in the 

state for refining. 

He said: “The Federal 

Government should tell 

the security operatives to 

than one academic 

session. 


the total indebtedness of 

the students stands at 

N1.2 billion, and the 

institution’s management 

was finding it difficult to 

handle 

both 

administrative and 

academic activities, hence 

its decision to publish the 

names of the affected 

students. 

Edo monarch to Ize-Iyamu: Accept Oba’s 

counsel on tribunal verdict 

By Simon 

Ebegbulem 

B ENIN—THE 

Onojie of Opoji and 

1st Vice Chairman, Edo 

State Council of Traditional 

Rulers and Chiefs, His 

Royal Highness, 

Ehidiamen Aidonojie I, has 

urged the governorship 

candidate of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

the September 28, 2016 

governorship election in 

the state, Pastor Osagie Ize- 

Iyamu, to listen to the 

advice given to him by the 

Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare 

II, that he should accept the 

verdict of the tribunal. 

The Oba of Benin had 

admonished Ize-Iyamu to 

accept the tribunal's ruling 

which affirmed the victory 

of the candidate of the All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, Governor Godwin 

Obaseki, rather than appeal 

the judgment as already 

hinted by his party. 

HRH Aidonojie I, who 

commended the Oba of 

Benin for the advice, 

reminded Ize-Iyamu that he 

and Obaseki are Bini from 

the South senatorial 

district. He should, 

therefore, see Obaseki as 

his brother rather than 

take decisions that will 

further create bad blood 

between them. 

According to him, “The 

Oba of Benin has said it all 

and that is the position of 

most of us who are royal 

fathers. The Oba is our 

chairman and a father to 

everybody and he has 

given Ize-Iyamu the best 

advice. There is no victor 

no vanquished. Ize- 

Iyamu’s father was the 

former Esogban of Benin 

Kingdom so he is a son of 

tradition." 

always return stolen 

products to the refinery 

for refining. They should 

stop using it to pollute 

our environment further 

because they are 

causing harm to us.” 


Caretaker Committee 

Chairman of Okirika 

LGA, Mr. Wilson 

Alabere, has advised the 

Federal Government to 

give more opportunities 

to the people of Niger 

Delta region to operate 

the modular refineries. 

VISIT: From left: Mr Victor Anyaegbudike, External Communication 

Coordinator, Chevron Nigeria Limited; Mr Kayode Adeboye, 

Communications Coordinator; Mr Eze Anaba, Editor, Vanguard Newspapers; 

Mr Kunle Adekoya, Deputy Editor and Sebastine Obasi, Energy Editor, during 

the visit of Chevron Communications coordinators to Vanguard Newwspapers 

Head Office in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele. 


indebted students have 

been given a period of 

grace up till May 12, 2017 

to pay up or risk 

suspension. 

A source who pleaded 

anonymity told Vanguard 

that such students can 

only be readmitted upon 

re-application and 

payment of all 

outstanding fees. 

The management staff 

also said the school was 

barely managing to cope 

with the administrative as 

well as academic 

activities. 

He said: “Due to these 

hitches, the students have 

been given vacation to 

mobilize themselves to 

clear their indebtedness. 

The said students had 

earlier been given two 

weeks to pay up their 

pending fees which did 

not yield any result, so 

this is the last window of 

opportunity after which 

the school will take the 

necessary action which it 

has commenced with the 

publication of their names 

in the state owned 

newspaper.” 

Fast-track road projects, 

Delta govt tells contractors 

By Festus Ahon 

A SABA—DELTA 

S t a t e 

Commissioner for Works, 

Mr James Augoye, has 

directed contracting 

firms handling road 

projects in the state to 

fast track road contracts 

awarded to them. 

Augoye, who gave the 

directive while 

inspecting phase one of 

the 6.65 kilometres 

Issele-Uku/Ugbolu/ 

Ukwunzu/Obomkpa/ 

Idu-Ogo Road, 

stretching from Idumu- 

Ogo to Obomkpa in 

Aniocha North Local 


state, said the state 

Students accuse Amnesty boss 

of neglect in training programme 

STUDENTS 

under 

the Presidential 

Amnesty Programme, 

yesterday, accused the 

Special Adviser to the 

President on Niger Delta, 

Gen. Paul Boroh (retd) of 

prventing them from 

completing their training at 

the World Maritime 

University, Malmo, 

Sweden. 

The students, in a 

statement by their leader, 

Campus Leimokumor, 

lamented that since the 

completion of the 2014 

phase of the training, they 

were yet to go for the 

mandatory, Sea Time 

Former Rivers NUJ Chairman, 

Alozie for burial tomorrow 

By Jimitota 

Onoyume 

PORT 

HAR- 

C O U R T — 

FORMER Chairman of 

Nigeria Union of 

Journalists, NUJ, in Rivers 

State, Mr Paul Alozie, is to 

be buried tomorrow at his 

home town, Umuebie, 

Eberi in Omuma Local 


state. 

Chairman of Rivers State 

Madam Agarin-Ogbebor for 

burial 

MRS 

Onome 

Agarin-Ogbebor 

is dead, aged 59. 

Service of songs holds 

today at her residence, 

19, Ozigbo Street, off 

Ekewan Road, Benin 

City, Edo State. Body 

leaves Oghara Mortuary 

tomorrow for her home 

town, Orerokpe, Delta 

State, for burial. 

governor, Dr. Ifeanyi 

Okowa, will soon 

commence the inspection 

and commissioning of 

about 20 road projects in 

May to mark his second 

year in office. 

He expressed 

disappointment at the 

level of work done and 

instructed the 

contracting firm 

handling the project, 

which he said got full 

payment since 

November last year, to 

mobilise back to site, 

adding that the firm 

would be invited for a 

meeting before the 

repudiation process after 

the usual one week 

grace. 

training and Competency 

Programme. 

Urging President 

Muhammadu Buhari to 

intercede on their behalf, 

the students said: 

“Originally, the 

programme is designed in 

three phases, the Shore 

Base Training, Sea Time 

Training and the Certificate 

of Competency. 

“Three years after the 

Shore Base Training, we are 

yet to embark on the 

mandatory Sea Time 

Training and Certificate of 

Competency programmes 

in accordance with the 

Nigeria Seafarers 

Development Plan, NSDP.” 

NUJ, Mr Omoni Ayo- 

Tamuno and the Secretary, 

Mr Soibi Max-Alalibo, in a 

statement, yesterday, 

lauded the late former 

NUJ, Chairman, 

describing his demise as a 

huge loss to the media 

industry. 

The statement said that 

the union would hold a 

night of tributes for him at 

the state secretariat on 

Moscow Road, Port 

Harcourt, today. 

Late Agarin-Ogbebor

14 — VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 

EFCC no longer a toothless 

bulldog, says Magu 

A BUJA—ACTING 

Chairman of 

Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, 

EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has 

said the anti-graft agency 

has only become a 

watchdog of the society but 

a biting one. 

Magu, who made the 

declaration when he 

received a delegation of 

Ohanaeze and Arewa 

youth parliaments in his 

office in Abuja, also vowed 

that nobody could stop the 

agency from fighting 

corruption in the country, 

“The EFCC has not only 

become a watchdog, it has 

become a biting dog,’’ said 

Magu, who assured 

Nigerians of reaping the 

benefit of fighting graft in 

Nigeria. 

He said: “I have always 

emphasised that we do not 

have the monopoly of 

knowledge to fight 

corruption as corruption is 

‘Godfatherism, rotational 

representation, causes of high 

turn-over of lawmakers' 

A BUJA—SPEAKER 

of the House of 

Representatives, Yakubu 

Dogara, has blamed 

godfatherism and clamour 

for rotational representation 

for the high attrition rate of 

legislators in the National 

Assembly. 

Dogara, who disclosed 

this in an interview in 

Abuja, said: “Obviously, 

there’s no way one would 

not be bothered about the 

rate of turnover of legislators 

It is an issue being 

discussed across board, but 

so many factors are 

responsible and it is based 

on the practice of democracy 

in Nigeria. 

“In some cases, some 

people have acquired some 

dominance in politics, they 

can just sit down and decide 


a crime against humanity 

as it affects everybody, so 

we need to effectively 

tackle corruption.’’ 

He solicited more 

support from Nigerians, 

emphasising the need to 

unite and fight the evil 

called corruption. 

“We must all unite 

against the evil called 

corruption as that is the only 

way we can ensure, at least, 

the protection of the future 

of our children and our 

younger ones,’’ he said. 

Magu added that the 

EFCC remained committed 

to fighting corruption to 

ensure a better Nigeria, 

stressing that “nobody will 

stop us from fighting 

corruption.’’ 

Speaking on behalf of the 

delegation, speaker of 

Ohanaeze youth 

parliament, Okonkwo 

Patrick, presented a 

certificate of credence to the 

EFCC boss. 

that they don’t like your face 

or that you have some kind 

of competence that is 

challenging to them, so they 

want to eliminate you from 

politics. 

“In some cases, it is based 

on the local arrangement 

where a constituency 

consists of two or three local 

governments and each one 

would want its turn to be 

represented at the National 

Assembly. So, the pressure 

is always there to claim turns 

at representation. 

“As soon as you send 

someone for four years, the 

agitation from the other local 

government is that it is their 

turn coming, so at the end 

of the day, you then have 

this high rate of turnover in 

the National Assembly and 

it is not helping the system.'' 

APC postpones national 

caucus, NEC meetings 

RULING 

All 

Progressives 

Congress, APC, has again 

postponed a meeting of the 

National Caucus and 

National Executive 

Committee, NEC, earlier 

scheduled for April 24 and 

25, 2017 respectively. 

The postponement was 

announced Thursday by the 

spokesperson of the party, 

Bolaji Abdullahi in a 

statement. 

Mr. Abdullahi said, “the 

postponement is due to 

u n e x p e c t e d 

developments.” 

The governing party last 

held a NEC meeting on July 

3, 2015, few months after it 

came into power. 

The APC has been 

enmeshed in crisis for over 

a year with some leaders of 

the party calling on the 

national chairman, John 

Odigie-Oyegun, to resign. 

Some of those opposed to 

Oyegun’s leadership 

include former Lagos 

governor, Bola Tinubu, and 

suspended deputy 

spokesperson, Timi Frank. 

The crisis in the party is 

believed to be one of the 

factors militating against 

convening a NEC meeting. 

Fresh crisis looms between Presidency, 

Senate •Senate trying to whittle down anti-graft war — Sagay 

...As Sen Sani calls for dissolution of Sagay’s PACAC for incompetence 

By Henry Umoru & 

Dapo Akinrefon 

A BUJA—FRESH 

crisis between the 

Presidency and the Senate 

looms as indications 

emerged yesterday that 

senators are calling on 


Buhari to dissolve the 

Presidential Advisory 

Committee against 

Corruption, PACAC, led by 

Professor Itse Sagay, SAN, 

for incompetence. 

This is coming weeks 

after the Upper Chamber of 

the National Assembly 

summoned Sagay for 

describing senators’ actions 

as childish and 

irresponsible, a summon he 

failed to honour. 

The call for the dissolution 

was made yesterday by the 

Chairman, Senate Ad hoc 

Committee on Mounting 

Humanitarian Crisis in the 

North East, Senator Shehu 

Sani, APC, Kaduna 

Central. 

But Prof Sagay, in a swift 

reaction, accused the 

Senate of working 

assiduously to whittle 

down the anti-corruption 

war of the government. 

Speaking with journalists, 

Senator Sani, who noted 

that the President did not 

need a forum of advisers on 

corruption to effectively 

fight corruption, said the 

suspension of the Secretary 

to the Government of the 


Babachir Lawal, was a clear 

indication that the 

committee, which once 

defended the SGF, was not 

competent. 

Sani said: “President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

should, as a matter of 

urgency, dissolve his 


Council on Corruption. It 

is a moribund and 

irrelevant assemblage. 

“The Presidential 

Advisory Committee, 

headed by a man who 

defended the SGF is 

without honour. Professor 

Sagay attacked me for my 

report on PINE, now that 

the President has taken 

steps in the direction of the 

committee report, I hope 

the Prof will muster the 

courage to also attack the 

President. The advisory 

committee was looking for 

corruption in Sokoto, while 

it’s there in Shokoto. 

“It is sad that most of the 

mercenary forces hired to 

rubbish the integrity of the 

Senate Committee and 

defend those indicted have 

suddenly lost their voice.” 

He, however, lamented 

that the humanitarian 

CARNIVAL ON THE PLATEAU: Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, 

and his wife Regina, leading the carnival procession celebrating peace, 

unity and progress in Jos, Plateau State. 

situation in the North East 

was made an industry where 

government officials and 

even NGOs profited from 

the suffering and hardship 

of millions of victims. 

According to him, while 

some people saw the 

millions of orphans and 

widows produced by the 

crisis as victims, others saw 

them as cash cows. 

It would be recalled that 

Mr Femi Adesina, Special 

Adviser to the President on 

Media and Publicity, who 

announced the suspension 

in a statement on 

Wednesday, said Buhari 

also ordered investigation 

into allegations of violations 

of law and due process 

against the SGF. 

The Senate had on 

December 14, 2016, 

called for the resignation 

and prosecution of the 




Babachir Lawal, 

following alleged 

complicity in the 

diversion of North East 

humanitarian funds. 

The Senate Ad hoc 

Committee on Mounting 

Humanitarian Crises in 

the North-East had, in 

an interim report, 

indicted Lawal in the 

award of contracts under 

the Presidential 

Initiative on the North- 

East, PINE. 

The call for Lawal’s 

resignation followed 

alleged contravention of 

the provisions of Public 

Procurement Act and the 


Financial Rules and 

Regulations pertaining 

to award of contracts. 

Contacted, chairman of 


Committee against 

Corruption, Professor 

Itse Sagay, lampooned 

the Senate for making 

such a recommendation, 

accusing the Senate of 

working towards 

ensuring that the anticorruption 

war was 

whittled down. 

Sagay said: “Their 

reactions show that they 

are ignorant and they 

are also prejudiced 

because of the role we 

are playing in frustrating 

their attempt to water 

down the anti-corruption 

struggle. 

‘’So, this is a reaction 

to the fact that we are 

supporting the struggle 

against corruption by 

upholding Ibrahim 

Magu, who has been 

very successful in that 

struggle. They (Senate) 

are frustrated. 

SOLID MINERALS: FG secures $150m World 

Bank approval 

By Levinus 

Nwabughiogu 

A BUJA—THE 

F e d e r a l 

Government has secured 

the approval of the World 

Bank for $150 million facility 

for the solid mineral sector. 

Minister of Mining and 

Solid Minerals, Kayode 

Fayemi, disclosed this to 

newsmen yesterday after 

he and his colleagues in 

the Ministries of Niger 

Delta, Usani Usani, as well 

as Youth and Sports 

Development, Solomon 

Dalung, briefed President 

Muhammadu Buhari on 

the activities of their 

ministries in a close door 

meeting at the Presidential 

Villa, Abuja. 

Fayemi told State House 

correspondents that he also 

briefed the President on 

illegal mining activities. 

He said: “Yes I have come 

to brief the President about 

what is going on in the 

mining sector and to 

particularly inform him of 

the major break through we 

had on Friday with the 

World Bank approving the 

$150 million dollar request 

that we made to them 

By Omeiza Ajayi 

A 

B U J A — 

PRESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari has 

approved the appointment 

of Abubakar Abba Bello as 

the new Managing 

Director of Nigeria Export- 

Import Bank, NEXIM. 

This was contained in a 

statement issued yesterday 

in Abuja and signed by the 

during the meeting in 

Washington. 

“I also briefed him on the 

activities of illegal miners, 

the work we are doing with 

regard to that, my tour 

around the country and the 

gradual improvements we 

are beginning to see in the 

sector, particularly in 

relation to our growth.'' 

Buhari appoints New NEXIM 

Bank Mgt 

Director of Press in the 

Office of the Secretary to the 


Federation, Bolaji Adebiyi. 

“Also appointed are Dr. 

Bala Mohammed Bello as 

the Executive Director, 

Corporate Services and 

Stella Okotete as Executive 

Director, Business 

Development”, the 

statement added. 

“The appointments are 

with immediate effect.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 — 15 


Ogbulafor identifies causes of crises in PDP, 

other parties 

By Anayo Okoli 

AMCON seals NMWIL premises over N611.5M 

debt 

By Nwabueze Okonkwo 

ONITSHA—THE pre 

mises of Nigerian Mineral 

Water Industries Limited, 

NMWIL, located at No.1 Limica 

road, Onitsha, Anambra 

State was yesterday sealed off 

by the Asset Management Corporation 

of Nigeria, AMCON, 

following an order granted to 

it by the Federal High Court 

sitting in Awka, the state capital. 

AMCON had dragged NM- 

WIL to court alleging that 

NMWIL was owing it about 

N611.518 million as debt they 

incurred from the credit facilities 

granted to them by some 

banks several years ago that 

AMCON bought over. 

The sealing of the company’s 

premises was carried out by a 

UMUAHIA- FORMER 

National Chairman of 

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 

Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, has 

blamed the crises in various 

political parties in Nigeria on 

lack of equity and justice. 

Ogbulafor, who spoke in his 

Itaja Obohia-Olokoro home in 

Umuahia South Council of 

Abia State, when he received 

the leadership of Okezuo Abia 

Organization, called for application 

of equity and justice in 

distributing political offices. 

Alluding specifically to the 

crisis rocking the PDP, he said: 

“If the major party stakeholders 

of the PDP had observed, 

respected and applied the concept 

of equity in the Presidential 

election of 2011 which produced 

President Goodluck 

Jonathan, the party wouldn’t 

have been in this present political 

predicament or quagmire.” 

He stressed the need for politicians 

to adhere strictly to “the 

rules, regulations and mutual 

agreements to ensure fairness, 

justice and political stability in 

the practice of democracy.” 

He commended Okezuo 

Abia Organization for deeming 

it fit to embark on grassroots 

appreciation tour of local 

governments of the state and 

for their efforts that culminated 

in the emergence of Dr. Okezie 

Ikpeazu as the governor of the 

state in 2015 governorship election. 

He said he was a strong 

believer of power rotation. 

In his remarks, the Director 

General of Okezuo Abia Organization, 

John Nwangborogwu, 

explained to the former 

PEOPLE SPEAK 

On BSc, HND discrimination 

party National Chairman on 

the philosophy and principles 

of the organization, which he 

said promotes understanding, 

equity and justice. 

Nwangborogwu stated that 

Okezuo Abia was open-minded, 

accommodating and believed 

in mutual relationship 

of people, guided and propelled 

by the philosophy of 

equity and justice for good 

governance. 

‘No amount of intimidation"ll stop MASSOB agenda' 

By Peter Okutu 

ABAKALIKI—THE leader 

of the Movement for the 

Actualization of the Sovereign 

State of Biafra, Biafra Independent 

Movement (BIM), in Ebonyi 

State, Mr. John 

Nwifuru, yesterday said no 

amount of police intimidation and 

harassment would deter him from 

pursuing the agenda of MAS- 

SOB even if it claimed his life. 

team of court bailiffs led by 

Chidubem Nwabunike who 

stormed the premises with 

armed policemen as early as 

7am and forced all the occupants 

of the premises out of the 

premises before enforcing the 

court order. 

Some of the occupants of the 

premises who were forced out 

are mostly Pentecostal churches, 

and they were seen outside 

discussing their disappointment 

after the seal was completed. 

The presiding Judge of the 

Federal High Court, Justice 

Bature Gafai had on April 3, 

2017 in Suit No: FHC/AWK/ 

CS/42/2017 granted the order on 

motion ex-parte sought by AM- 

CON in a case between it as a 

Claimant/Applicant and Nigerian 

Mineral Water Industries limited 

as a Defendant. 

In the ex-parte motion, AM- 

CON had prayed the court to 

grant it the leave to take possession 

of the defendant’s 

properties, including the parcels 

of land measuring approximately 

1.883 hectares together 

with the buildings 

erected thereon situate, lying 

and being at No1 Limca road, 

Onitsha. 

AMCON also prayed the 

court to grant it the leave to 

recover its statutory certificate 

of occupancy registered as No. 

47 at page 47 in volume 1227 

of the lands registry in the office 

at Awka dated 13th September, 

1989 from the defendants, 

as well as all the outstanding 

sums due to the 

claimant which is N 

611,518,501.07k. 

Insisting that it was the judiciary 

that ordered the Ebonyi State 

Police Command to return all the 

properties they took from his office 

and pay him compensation 

for infringing on his fundamental 

Human Rights, the MASSOB 

(BIM) leader who showed a copy 

of the judgment that was delivered 

on February 17, 2014 by Justice 

F.C. Inya-Agha to Vanguard 

stressed the need for institutions 

of government to obey the verdicts 

of the court.. 

Addressing newsmen in Abakaliki, 

Nwifuru who is also the leader 

of MASSOB (BIM) for Ebonyi 

North zone of the State noted that 

the Court also mandated the police 

to apologize to him using five 

national dailies in the country, but 

that the police had refused to obey 

the ruling of the court. 

According to him, it was the police 

that took the case to the Appeal 

Court in a bid to jail him but 

failed as the Court ordered the 

Police to release him as he didn't 

have any case to answer. 

“If they deny me, God will not 

deny me; I have all the evidence 

of the ruling delivered by the Nigerian 

court in my favour. During 

proceedings, the police brought 

four lawyers to facilitate my jail 

but they couldn’t as the Court ordered 

me to go and that I did not 

have any case to answer and that 

they (police) should go to 5 national 

dailies and apologize to me. 

“MASSOB of Uwazuruike is 

non violent from 1999 till date; the 

group has never violated any Nigerian 

law and that’s why we are 

being killed like fowls. We have 

lawyers, doctors, commissioners 

and even policemen who are apart 

of us. Though they may be intimidating 

and killing us, they are 

part of us. But government workers 

are afraid because of that 

name 'freedom fighters' because 

if they come out as our 

members they could be sacked. 

They are our brothers.'' 

NMA decries 

kidnap of doctors 

in Aba 

By Ugochukwu Alaribe 

ABA—THE Nigerian Med 

ical Association, NMA, 

Aba, chapter, Abia State, has decried 

perceived upsurge in abduction 

of doctors in the city. 

The Association lamented that 

on Friday, April 7, a doctor was 

abducted in the city on his way to 

buy medical supplies, lamenting 

that 72 hours later, another doctor 

was seized at his clinic with a 

patient. 

Briefing newsmen in Aba, 

Chairman of the NMA, Aba zone, 

Dr. Udo Mark, who condemned 

the kidnap of the doctors, urged 

the state government to beef up 

security in the city to protect lives 

and properties. 

He said, “On Friday 7th April, 

a medical doctor was kidnapped 

when he went to procure medical 

supplies. 72 hours later, another 

doctor was kidnapped at his clinic 

with his patient. If a doctor feels 

that his life is at risk, that doctor 

will not go to work. We urge them 

to stop kidnapping doctors." 

Dr. Egbune is dead 

DR. Patrick Anene Odifu 

Egbune JA (Attorney at 

Law) is dead. 

He died on January 31, 2017 

at the age of 60 after a brief 

illness. He will be buried on 

today in his family compound 

in Issele uku in Delta State. 

Late Dr Egbune 

By Bartholomew 

Madukwe (08051019450) 

nwamad@yahoo.com 

It has no logic. It is inhumane. 

I am a university 

product all through but 

teach in the polytechnic 

system. My experience assures 

me that the discrimination 

is archaic and 

anachronistic. I am happy 

with the National Assembly 

that the Bill passed second 

reading. Dr. Onyeka 

Uwakwe, Lecturer 

People just want to 

get hold of the certificates. 

Every four 

years, colleges, especially 

polytechnics and 

universities, though 

with different focus, 

should be rated the 

same in terms of employment. 

Miss Jane 

Nwosu, Worker 

The problem in Nigeria 

is the number of years 

after high school for obtaining 

HND and Bachelors degree 

should not have been 

tantamount. It takes five 

years to earn HND, including 

industrial attachment, 

and four or five years to 

earn a BA/BSc. Mr Ndubuisi 

Igwe, Engineer 

Both oil & water are liq 

uids, but they are two 

different things. People 

ought to understand that 

and stop deluding themselves. 

Both have different 

focus, as well as reasons for 

their creation. It will be 

wrong to think they are the 

same. Miss Chinasa 

Ukogu, Musician 

HND and BSc are the 

same because both 

have the same courses and 

syllabus. What makes them 

different are the institutions. 

Some companies prefer 

HND holders because 

they excel competently in 

practical orientation. Miss 

Ebereke Kelechi, Cosmetologist 

The British set this pace 

earlier in the last century. 

Understanding the 

implications, they subtly 

phased it out by introducing 

what they call associate 

degrees. No institution 

in the UK issues OND/ 

HND any more but Bachelors 

in Technology. Mr Fidelis 

Oduah, Lawyer

16—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017


18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 

INFANT mortality remains one of 

Nigeria’s major health challenges. 

The country ranks the highest in 

Africa in terms of the number of neonatal 

deaths and is second globally 

after India. Newborn deaths contribute 

to 32 per cent of mortality under 

five years. Each year an estimated 

240,000 newborn babies die in their 

first month of life out of an estimated 

seven million annual deliveries or 

around 650 per day. 

In addition there are about 314,000 

stillbirths annually. One of the contributors 

to high rate of newborn 

deaths is pre-term or premature birth. 

A premature or pre-term is a birth that 

takes place more than three weeks 

before the baby is due, that is, before 

the start of the 37th week of pregnancy. 

Normally, a pregnancy lasts about 

40 weeks. 

Pre-term birth gives the baby less 

time to develop in the womb and is 

the leading cause of death for babies 

in the first month of life. In Nigeria, 

every year, an estimated 1 million babies 

are born pre-term and one in 

three newborn deaths is due to preterm 

birth complications with almost 

100,000 newborn deaths, equivalent to 

one in every eight babies born alive. 

Ending infant and pre-term deaths 

Nigeria ranks No.3 in the world for 

this public health problem after India 

and China. Prematurity has far-reaching 

impact on development and health 

of children and when they become 

adults. 

In Nigeria, babies born too soon are 

between six and 26 times more likely 

to die during the first four weeks of 

life than babies born at term. Pre-term 

birth happens spontaneously for a 

number of reasons, due to early induction 

of labour or Caesarean birth, 

whether for medical or non-medical 

reasons. Other common causes include 

multiple pregnancies, infections 

and chronic conditions, such as diabetes 

and high blood pressure. 

There is also a genetic influence; often 

no cause is identified. Generally, 

babies born premature have reduced 

chances of survival and even when they 

survive, they are forced to contend 

with life-long ailments and conditions. 

However, although these babies are 

born too soon, they are not born to 

die. Their deaths are preventable and 

up to 75 percent could be saved without 

expensive, high technology care. 

The World Health Organisation 

(WHO) is helping to highlight pre-term 

birth as a global priority, and has 

helped in pushing for its inclusion 

within the post-2015 sustainable development 

agenda to sustain global effort 

to raise awareness of the deaths 

and disabilities due to prematurity and 

promote the simple, proven, cost-effective 

measures that could prevent 

them. 

The world is moving ahead in premature 

care and Nigeria must move 

along. Enough should be done to remember 

this vulnerable group. Many 

of these deaths are avoidable, 

through both prevention of pre-term 

birth, and provision of care for the 

premature baby. More action must be 

taken to raise awareness of what can 

be done to reduce the challenge of 

pre-term births and ensure better care 

for babies born too soon. 

Many premature babies die as a result 

of delay and other unhealthy processes 

they go through before adequate 

care reaches them. The extra 

care being given to women should 

take on a new role. The major benefits 

of safe motherhood, family planning 

strategies, birth spacing and adolescent-friendly 

services, should be 

available and accessible to help in reducing 

the risk of pre-term birth. 

Pregnant women should be encouraged 

to attend antenatal and postnatal 

care, while nursing mothers 

should adopt early initiation and exclusive 

breastfeeding. Access to 

skilled care at delivery, can help to 

reduce deaths due to pre-term birth. 

All hands should be on deck to effectively 

combat the challenge of prenatal 

death and foster better survival 

of babies born prematurely. 

OPINION 

Nigeria: Country where dollars speak native dialect 

By Israel A. Ebije 

THE recent whistle blower on the Ikoyi, 

Lagos state dollar find may be one of the 

unlucky participants in the gainful employ of 

whistle blowing business in the country. The 

person must have watched with absolute 

excitement when the Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission, EFCC, operatives 

pounced on the building like sniffer dogs to the 

sound of the whistle. Sadly, the denials and 

subsequent claim by the Rivers state 

Government and the National Intelligence 

Agency, NIA, over the cash may have turned 

the beautiful dream of the whistler to a 

nightmare. 

With the quantum of dollar find across 

Nigeria, one would want to ask if there are any 

left for the Americans where the currency 

originates from. Interestingly, they operate a 

cashless society, which may explain why they 

are not stranded over the quantum of cash 

stashed in Nigeria. We may also understand 

why naira plummeted seriously against the 

dollar. It took the intervention of a well-meaning 

Nigerian who blew whistle against government. 

Already many corrupt politicians have made 

at least three times of whatever amount of 

dollar they stole at the very expense of ordinary 

Nigerians. 

The Lagos debacle, with subsequent 

peddling of names and final acceptance by NIA 

of the cash as approval for “covert” operation 

quickly sends recap of “abandoned” N49m 

cash at the Kaduna airport. When the sudden 

stash find in Kaduna was announced, Nigerians 

jubilated. It was indeed a very interesting 

development as we immediately thought it was 

proceed of corruption, quickly dumped by 

kleptomania politicians for operatives to 

discover. The Ikoyi find however knocked some 

sense back to our brains set on default mode. 

We may never know the 

extent the present 

administration at all levels 

has managed to defraud 

Nigerians of their 

commonwealth. All we hear 

is what was stolen and not 

who is presently stealing 

The immediate narrative from government is 

that the money was approved for use since the 

Jonathan administration. However, it is 

pertinent to question the twisted explanation 

arising from the discordant tune. We must 

clarify if the NIA is exempted from Treasury 

Single Account, TSA. If the NIA operates 

different budget plan and why the money is 

kept in a place abandoned for two years. It is 

interesting to assert that some Nigerians are 

no longer gullible. They think deeply because 

they intend never to be fooled again. 

Nigeria is in full circle back to the days of 

impunity. To appreciate the kleptomaniac 

level of Nigerian governments, the streets 

presents a frame-by-frame imagery of dearth 

of infrastructure, social amenities, economic 

empowerment institutions, and security of lives 

and properties. Enough of the lies, rhetorics, 

the hate, the blame game, the irresponsible 

witch-hunt. We must chat a way forward as 

Nigerians instead of creating hate and 

retrogression. The immediate past 

administration is the smoke screen ignited each 

time the present administration intends to throw 

dust in the air. 

Talking about dust throwing, people are 

beginning to remove the veil off their faces to 

see what would have possessed top officials in 

this administration to misfire on the Ikoyi cash 

find. Some believed the absence of Mr. 

President from the all-important Federal 

Executive Council, FEC, meeting may have 

hastened operatives of the EFCC to unleash 

the cash haul to distract or deflect attacks 

from Nigerians, forgetting about possible 

backlash of their actions. It would be recalled 

that the President was rumoured sick. The 

usual diversion is to announce a cash haul or 

blame Jonathan for something. 

Some Nigerians are of the view that 

operatives intentionally dump cash at strategic 

locations, sensationalise recovery to be seen as 

performing their mandate. Other Nigerians, 

including Mr. President want proper records 

kept. In our collective euphoria, we may have 

lost count of accounts rendered so far. Certainly, 

those responsible for repatriating stolen funds 

must watch their backs, scale up their acts and 

maintain focus, because Nigerians are 

watching. 

Sometimes when spectators over applaud 

performers, they may bend over backwards, 

thereby landing on the ground in a heap where 

only shame further breaks their ego. The 

applause is reducing already but the spectators 

are increasing in number. The crowd is no 

longer homogeneous or friendly any more. 

The good, the bad and the ugly have joined to 

watch with different opinions. Already many 

Nigerians including former loyalists of the 

Buhari administration are beginning to see 

the gaps. Only those vowed to die with the 

present leadership are blind to the dangerous 

signs. 

It is indeed important to note that we will be 

more fragmented in opinion, divided in 

perspectives, provoked by policies and engage 

in fights based on perceived or real tilt in the 

way the present administration goes about 

governance. If anti corruption is the mantra, 

then nobody or group of people should corrupt 

the efforts targeted at combating corruption. 

We may never know the extent the present 

administration at all levels has managed to 

defraud Nigerians of their commonwealth. All 

we hear is what was stolen and not who is 

presently stealing – when there are empirical 

indicators pointing at location of crime and 

criminals. There will come a time Nigerians 

will snivel at the EFCC, ICPC for failing in 

their duties. The lines for the fight is either too 

short to reach former leaders before Jonathan 

or too fragile to hold present actors in the 

present administration accountable for 

corrupt practices. There must be equity, 

fairness and transparency in this fight. 

*Mr. Ebije, a commentator on national 

issues, wrote from Abuja.


Mixed reactions trail CBN’s new forex 

allocation to SMEs 

By Franklin Alli 

SMALL and Medium Enter 

prises (SMEs) operators are 

cheering and at the same time, 

fretting over the foreign exchange 

window created for them by the 

Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to 

import critical raw materials and 

machinery. 

Statistics from CBN, showed 

that about 90 per cent of manufacturing 

companies in Nigeria 

belong to the SME category. 

CBN had in a circular last 

week, stated that in its continued 

effort to accommodate all stakeholders 

in the foreign exchange 

market, has opened forex window 

for SMEs to the tune of 

$20,000 per customer per quarter, 

to import raw materials and 

machinery. 

Speaking to Vanguard, Manufacturers 

Association of Nigeria, 

MAN, and Lagos Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry, LCCI, 

said the new CBN guideline on 

special FX allocation to SMEs is 

commendable as it would trigger 

productivity, employment and 

wealth creation in the country. 

Employment and 

wealth creation 

Dr. Frank Jacobs, MAN President, 

said, “Interestingly, MAN 

in its one month (March 2017) concise 

situation report on the impact 

of the new CBN policy on the 

manufacturing sector, had earlier 

identified the need for government 

to provide a special window for 

SMEs to access FX. This was 

based on some of our observations 

that the commencement of 

the flexible exchange rate regime 

and the new CBN FX policy were 

aggressively crowding-out the 

SMEs from the FX market as 

they are unable to source FX like 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

SDR 

$142. 90 0. 00 

$1,805.00 -89. 00 

16.44 -0.02 

$54.78 -0.11 

$50.57 0. 13 

305.05 305.5 306 

386. 557 387.1907 387.8244 

325.984 326.5184 327.0528 

304. 939 305. 4389 305.9388 

2.8036 2.8082 2.8128 

0. 4754 0.4854 0.4954 

413.9555 414.6341 415.3127 

44. 2919 44.3649 44. 438 

81.316 81.4493 81.5826 

414.556 415.2356 415.9152 

KRONA 43.8225 43.8943 43.9661 

CBN Exchange rate as at 20/04/2017 

From left, Adetunji Oyebanji, Managing Director/CEO, Mobil Plc; Oscar N. Onyema, 

CEO, NSE; Venkataraman Venkatapathy, Group Managing Director, NIPCO at the closing 

gong ceremony in commemoration of Mobil/NIPCO transactions at the exchange. 

the large and multinational companies. 

In fact, companies within 

the SMEs category lacked the financial 

wherewithal to participate 

in the FX forward segment and 

even those with unconfirmed LCs 

(Letter of Credit) could not access 

FX. 

“It is a step in the right direction 

that will reasonably address the 

FX challenges of the SMEs and 

spur productivity, employment 

and wealth for the nation. It is, 

therefore, imperative that the CBN 

effectively monitor and evaluate 

the implementation of this special 

FX allocation with a view to developing 

a more realistic framework 

that will accommodate commensurate 

increase in amount of 

FX dollars that closely reflects the 

realities of the needs of SMEs.” 

He, however, said that MAN has 

called for a significant upward review 

of the forex allocation by CBN 

to the SMEs, adding, “You can 

now conspicuously see that though 

the $20,000 per quarter FX allocation 

will fairly support production 

on their shop floor, the amount is 

too small to catalyze substantial 

additional activities that will spur 

more employment. 

“In addition, the $20,000 per 

quarter FX allocation to one SME 

company is worth only about 

N6million going by the prevailing 

official exchange rate. This is a 

meagre 1.2 per cent of the assetcapital 

that the company will deploy 

for its operation in that quarter. 

In consideration of all of the 

above, especially the latter, one can 

safely deduce that the $20,000 

quarterly special FX allocation to 

SMEs may not be sufficient to effectively 

meet their raw-materials 

and machinery needs.” 

Corroborating this position, Mr. 

John Kachikwu, Chairman of LCCI 

SMEs Group, said “it is a good 

policy; it will increase the capacity 

of SMEs to create more employment 

for the masses, but it is subjective, 

in the sense that, ‘will it be 

well implemented?’ that is the 

question. It is a step in the right 

direction. 

“Our grouse is implementation; 

government is good at making 

policies but implementing them is 

the issue. If the policy is well implemented, 

and if banks would not 

turn it round and make money out 

of it. So, monitoring policy is very 

paramount each time government 

or CBN makes good policy like 

the SMEs access to forex. How 

do they monitor the policy; we have 

said it time without number that 

they should carry private sector 

along, but they don’t.” 

World Bank to support 20 start-ups in Sub-Sahara 

Africa on digital entrepreneurs 

By Prince Okafor 

THE World Bank Group, yesterday, 

launched XL Africa, a five-month business 

acceleration programme designed to support the 

20 most promising digital start-ups from sub-Saharan 

Africa. Start-ups will receive mentoring 

from global and local experts, learn through a 

tailor-made curriculum, increase their regional 

visibility, and get access to potential corporate 

partners and investors. 

With support from prominent African investment 

groups, XL Africa will help the 20 selected 

start-ups attract early stage capital between 

$250,000 and $1.5 million. 

In a statement from World Bank Group, the Vice 

President, World Bank, Africa Region, Makhtar 

Diop, said, “Digital start-ups are important drivers 

of innovation in Africa. To scale and spread 

new technologies and services beyond borders, 

they need an integrated ecosystem that provides 

access to regional markets and global finance; 

pan-African initiatives like XL Africa play a critical 

role by linking local start-ups with corporations 

and investors across the continent.” 

Also, the Principal Investment Officer for Singularity 

Investments, a venture group based 

in Lagos, Nigeria, Lexi Novitske, said: “The 

programme’s unique combination of targeted 

mentorship and access to investors represents a 

vital resource for digital ventures ready to grow. 

By connecting innovative business ideas with 

the knowledge and resources available in the 

ecosystem, XL Africa will create a pipeline of 

investment-ready companies, unlocking better 

investment opportunities for regional and global 

investors.” 

According to a recent report by Disrupt Africa, 

in 2016, the number of tech start-ups that secured 

funding increased by 16.8 percent when 

compared to 2015. 

Director of the Trade and Competitiveness 

Global Practice, World Bank Group, Klaus 

Tilmes, said, “XL Africa aims to put a spotlight 

on the continent’s growing digital economy by 

scouting for and supporting the most innovative 

tech start-ups. The success of these ventures 

will create a demonstration effect that can 

attract much-needed growth investment in the 

sector and catalyze scaling of transnational businesses 

in the region.” 

NIMASA, Navy 

sign MoU on 

maritime security 

By Godwin Oritse 

THE Nigerian Maritime 

Administration and Safety 

Agency, NIMASA, and the Nigerian 

Navy, NN, have signed a 

reviewed Memorandum of Understanding 

(MoU) aimed at 

keeping the nation’s territorial 

waters safer for ship navigation. 

Speaking at the MOU signing 

ceremony in Abuja, Chief of Naval 

Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral 

Ibok-Ete Ibas said that the review 

and the signing of a new 

MoU had become imperative 

because of the growing importance 

of the nation’s maritime 

domain. 

Ibas said that the aim of the 

new MOU is to harness the overall 

gains of information sharing, 

even as he expressed optimism 

that intelligence, facility and information 

sharing would go a 

long way in assisting the service 

to carry out its professional responsibilities. 

Ibas explained that the first 

MoU that was signed between 

the two organisations yielded a 

remarkable achievement, highlighting 

this as a further reason 

that necessitated the review of 

the MoU to continue to work together 

to protect the nation’s assets, 

particularly the crude oil, 

from thieves and other criminals. 

He noted that the first quarter 

of 2016 actually witnessed an unprecedented 

high rate of crime 

in the nation’s maritime domain 

but insisted that due to the collaboration 

of the two 

organisations, the crime was 

drastically reduced. The naval top 

brass noted that the service 

needed more support from sister 

agencies to enable it to carry 

out its professional responsibility 

of safeguarding the nation’s 

maritime domain and other responsibilities. 

Director-General of NIMASA, 

Dr. Dakuku Peterside, commended 

the signing of the MoU, 

expressing delight that it would 

avail the two organisations with 

yet another opportunity to continue 

to safeguard the nation’s 

assets. 

Peterside said the major responsibility 

of NIMASA was to 

safeguard the maritime domain 

and rid it of illegal activities and 

making the environment conducive 

for legal activities. 

According to Dakuku, the 

MoU would further strengthen 

the Navy to ensure the enhanced 

safety of vessels in the nation’s 

water ways. “Over the years, we 

have made tremendous 

achievements, especially in the 

area of safety of vessels. Crime 

rate has dropped tremendously, 

and we are working in a very 

close relationship with the NN 

in achieving such feat,” he said.


By Theodore Opara 

FG appoints General Motor 

ors’ Creative e Designer 

as DG 

THE Federal Government 

has rekindled hope in the 

nation’s automotive industry with 

the appointment of Nigerian born 

General Motors’ senior creative 

designer, Jelani Aliyu, as the 

new Director General, National 

Automotive Design and Development 

Council, NADDC. 

Aliyu, who also designed the 

awe-inspiring Chevrolet Volt, 

replaces Engr. Aminu Jalal, a 

former university lecturer who 

has been at the helm of affairs at 

the NADDC since the Federal 

Government started the new 

auto policy. 

The new policy attracted automotive 

giants from across the 

world, including Toyota, Nissan, 

Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai, Ford, 

to mention but a few. But the 

Federal Government’s appointment 

of Mr. Aliyu, who has practical 

knowledge of the auto industry 

has ignited stakeholders’ 

confidence in the Nigerian auto 

industry. It is believed that the 

move by the Federal Government 

has shown its readiness to 

the nation’s automotive industry 

to the next level. 

The newly appointed DG, Jelani 

Aliyu was born in Kaduna in 

1966 to Alhaji Aliya and Sharifiya 

Hauwa’u Aliyu who both 

hail from Sokoto State. He attended 

Capital School, Sokoto between 

1971 and 1978, and then 

proceeded to Federal Government 

College, Sokoto, where he 

graduated with honours as ‘best 

technical drawing student.’ 

He was later offered admission 

to study architecture at the Ahmadu 

Bello University Zaria but 

declined the offer for a similar 

•Jelani Aliyu Nigerian-born GM Senior Creative 

Designer appointed DG of NADDC by President Buhari 

course at the Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic, 

Kebbi State from 1986 to 

1988 the institution that formally 

embedded in Jelani the culture 

of automobile design. 

While at the polytechnic, Jelani 

Aliyu did in depth research 

into home designs and construction, 

experimenting with materials 

and structures that could 

best be functional for buildings 

in the hot northern climate without 

necessarily using air conditioning 

system. 

His effort earned him another 

accolade, when upon graduation 

he was hired at the Ministry of 

Works, Sokoto, where he worked 

briefly. 

An exceptionally curious Aliyu 

soon moved in 1990 to Detroit, 

Michigan, USA, where he enrolled 

at the College for Creative 

Studies under a Sokoto Scholarship 

board sponsorship. 

Having always wanted to study 

Automobile Design, Jelani Aliyu 

became enthusiastic. He says: 

“The course was very practical 

and emphasis was put on creativity 

and the development of 

new designs to provide solutions.” 

Upon graduation in 1994, he 

began his career with the design 

staff of General Motors, where 

he worked on the Buick Rendezvous 

and later became lead exterior 

designer of the Pontiac G6 

and Astra, General Motors’ Opel 

Division and soon designed the 

Chevrolet Volt, which was unveiled 

in 2007. 

Married with three kids, Jelani 

was recently quoted as saying 

“I think with the new automotive 

policy, with the support 

the government is giving to the 

industry, it has begun to create 

the momentum needed. We just 

need to continue pushing it 

through the next stages, especially 

in terms of enabling a Nigerian 

vehicle that is conceptualised, 

designed and developed 

by Nigerians for Nigerians in 

Nigeria. 

Jalal hands over to most senior NADDC Director 

ENGR. Aminu Jalal, Tuesday, 

April 19, 2017, handed over powers 

of National Automotive Design and 

Development Council (NADDC) to the 

most senior director in the Council, Mr. 

Luqman Mamudu, Director Policy and 

Planning, to hold forth in acting capacity 

pending the assumption of office of the 

recently appointed substantive director 

general, Mr. Jelani Aliyu. 

The very brief hand-over formalities 

took place at the Council’s corporate 

headquarters in Abuja during an 

impromptu meeting attended by 

NADDC management staff. 

The former NADDC director general 

said that he was in contact with Mr. 

Aliyu and that he would need a little time 

to tidy up some arrangements in the 

United States of America before he could 

come over to assume duties in Nigeria, 

adding that Mr. Mamudu would oversee 

the affairs of the Council in acting 

capacity and hand-over officially to Mr. 

Aliyu whenever he ressumes. 

Engr. Jalal remarked that the Council 

had been in close interaction with Mr. 

Jelani Aliyu over the last ten years and 

had contributed in several ways to the 

various initiatives to move the auto 

industry forward under the Nigerian 

Automotive Industry Policy. 

He thanked the management and staff 

of the Council for their support and 

cooperation with him which facilitated 

whatsoever achievements that could be 

attributed to his tenure and pleaded that 

a higher level of cooperation be extended 

to his successor. 

Reacting on behalf of management and 

staff, the acting director general, Mr. 

Mamudu thanked God for granting 

Engr. Jalal a most successful career in 

government service and for completing 

Expert to x-ray 

Nigeria auto 

policy at 

Transport awards 

NIGERIA Auto Policy: 

Moving forward or 

Stagnant is the topic for 

discussion at the fif th Nigeria 

Transport Lecture, with the 

lead paper to be delivered by 

Dr. Oseme Oigiagbe, 

chairman, Automobile and 

Allied Sectoral group of the 

Lagos Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry. 

A statement by the 

managing editor of Transport 

Day newspaper, (organisers 

of the event), Mr. Frank 

Kintum, stated that “Oseme, 

being an experienced 

industry chieftain, will be 

reviewing the policy, with the 

aim of determining whether 

the policy is moving forward 

or stagnant”. 

The statement also said that 

industry players have been 

invited to the event, which 

holds on Thursday, April 27, 

2017. Kintum described the 

annual lecture as Transport 

Day newspaper’s contribution 

to the development of the 

transport and logistics sectors 

of the economy. 

Apart from the lecture, the 

event is also expected to 

witness the recognition of 

some worthy players in the 

transport and logistics sector 

of the economy. Some key 

individuals to be so 

recognised are the managing 

director of Primero Transport 

Services Limited, Mr. Fola 

Tinubu; the Ogun State 

Sector Commander of the 

Federal Road Safety Corps 

(FRSC), Commander 

Clement Oladele and the 

Registrar General of the 

Corporate Affairs 

Commission (CAC), Mr. 

Bello Mahmud. 

two terms as Director General/CEO 

without blemish. On the appointment of 

Mr. Jelani Aliyu, Mr. Mamudu 

remarked, “We are most excited and 

delighted to work with him because his 

appointment is like a miracle. We have 

been working closely with him since 

2008 on various initiatives but now, God 

has brought him to come and spearhead 

the Council. 

“Another good thing with his 

appointment is that Mr. Aliyu has a very 

large image, everybody knows him. He 

has the capacity to penetrate various 

centres of power and also carry along 

the entire auto industry stakeholders to 

the advantage of the Council.” 

NADDC Director of Administration, 

Hajiya Adama Saleh wished Engr. Jalal 

well in retirement and prayed God to be 

with him in his future endeavours.


Toyota Prado’s heritage of quality 

uality, , reliability 

•Toyota Prado 

THE huge price to acquire it 

notwithstanding, the Toyota 

Prado SUV has maintained the 

lead as the first choice of Sport 

Utility Vehicle, SUV, buyers in its 

class in Nigeria. 

This has been attributed to the 

unique qualities of the Prado 

which has carved a niche for itself 

in the large SUV segment. 

Toyota Motor Corporation says 

that Prado has an unmatched 

pedigree and heritage in its class. 

According to Toyota, “with a 

heritage that dates back over a half 

century, the Land Cruiser’s unrivalled 

off-road performance and 

durability have earned it a rocksolid 

reputation for reliability. The 

latest Prado, inherited the pedigree 

of its predecessors while simultaneously 

realising superior 

on-road performance and interior 

versatility at high level. 

No wonder the Toyota Prado has 

dominated its class over the years 

with every successive model 

launch. The Prado is a class 

benchmark in terms of four-wheel 

drive capability, on-road performance, 

safety and comfort. The 

Prado with its four WD heritage 

evident in every aspect of its powerful 

and commanding exterior 

design, shines in rough terrains. 

•Gbenga Oyebode 

THE Board of Directors of 

CFAO Nigeria Plc, a 

leading investor in the Nigerian 

economy since 1902, has 

appointed Mr. Gbenga 

Oyebode, MFR, as chairman of 

the Board. He is a renowned 

lawyer, experienced 

administrator, chairman and 

With the rugged strength of an 

off-road leader, and an exterior 

design that achieves the summit 

of refinement, Prado has a distinctive 

individuality that harmonises 

magnificiently with urban 

life. 

It incorporates numerous innovative 

technologies to support 

off-road driving and provides the 

driver a remarkable experience, 

A new Mercedes-Benz sprinter is born 

WESTAR Associates, 

general distributors of 

Mercedes-Benz in Nigeria has 

unveiled the new Sprinter bus 

into the market. 

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 

is a spacious, refined van that 

offers mobility in an economical 

and sustainable manner. With its 

low emissions and fuel 

consumption, the Mercedes- 

Benz Sprinter provides first class 

transportation of passengers and 

cargo safely to any desired 

destination. 

Now available for immediate 

delivery in Nigeria, the Sprinter 

serves as a key instrument for 

mass transport of people and 

goods all around the country. It 

takes the strain off the driver’s 

Oyebode is CFAO Nigeria new boss 

director of several reputable 

organisations in Nigeria and 

overseas. Mr. Oyebode is a 

recipient of several prestigious 

awards, including one of 

Nigeria’s highest honours, 

Member of the Order of the 

Federal Republic (MFR) and 

the Belgian Royal Honour of 

‘Knight of the Order of 

Leopold.’ 

As the fourth indigenous 

chairman of the multinational 

company, Mr. Oyebode is 

bringing his vast board room 

experience to bear on the 

company and would continue 

with the tradition of operational 

whether as a first timer or experienced 

explorer. Some of these 

new technologies include Crawl 

control, which provides optimal 

throttle and brake control, maintaining 

a constant low speed to 

support safe, sure driving on 

sand, dirt, rock, mud, steep 

grades or other surfaces that require 

fine accelerator control. 

Others are multi-terrain anti-lock 

daily workload by yielding a load 

compartment of 17 cubic meters, 

which accommodates a payload 

of 2695 kilogrammes. 

It comes in multiple 

configurations for either moving 

cargo, cabin crew or transporting 

just passengers. The cargo van 

fits two front seats to an empty 

cargo bay, while the crew van 

essentially adds a three-place 

rear bench seat to the cargo van, 

raising seating capacity to five. 

In addition, the Sprinter can 

be easily converted to a minibus 

when seats are installed in the 

cargo area; thus accommodating 

up to 12 passengers across its 

four-row seating. The crew and 

passenger vans are available in 

two wheelbases and two roof 

excellence and business 

integrity built upon by late Sir, 

Chief (Dr.) Molade Okoya- 

Thomas, a prominent 

Lagosian, renowned 

philanthropist and Asoju Oba 

of Lagos, who sadly passed on 

two years ago. Other past 

chairmen who also contributed 

significantly to the strong 

investment foundation of 

CFAO in Nigeria were Chief 

Allison Ayida and late Mr. 

Gamaliel Onosode, 

internationally acclaimed 

administrators and boardroom 

experts. 

Mr. Oyebode brings his vast 

braking system with electronic 

brake-force distribution, multi-terrain 

monitor, electronically-controlled 

kinetic dynamic suspension 

system for outstanding drivability 

off-road and comfortable 

ride on-road. 

Underneath the bonnet of the 

Prado is a powerful 4.0 litre dual 

VVT-1 V6 engine with high 

•Mercedes-Benz 

Sprinter 

heights 

(standard and high), with a third 

roof height (super high) available 

on the cargo van. 

Powered by a 258HP 6 cylinder 

petrol engine, the Mercedes- 

Benz Sprinter possesses a gross 

boardroom experience to 

bear on the CFAO Group in 

Nigeria consisting of 

subsidiaries such as NIPEN 

(manufacturing plastic crates, 

BIC pens and shavers), 

GID (distributing fast moving 

consumer goods), ASSENE 

LABOREX (pharmaceuticals), 

EURACARE (multispecialist 

hospital), CFAO YAMAHA 

(motorcycles, marine outboard 

engines, power products), 

MASSILIA MOTORS 

(Mitsubishi Motors vehicles) 

and CFAO MOTORS (FUSO 

trucks, JCB construction 

equipment, OTIS elevators). 

torque and output, excellent fuel 

efficiency and low exhaust emission. 

This Prado power is 

marched with 6AT/5AT ECT that 

electronically switches shifting 

patterns according to road conditions 

and driver intent. 

Surprisingly, with its large body, 

the Prado maneuvers superbly on 

the road. Even in narrow streets 

and tight corners, Prado’s 

smooth, nimble handling assures 

driving ease that makes you not 

feel the size. And when it comes 

to comfort and space, Prado offer 

first class cabin with sophisticated 

instrument panel of quality. 

Three row seat enables the 

whole family to travel in the Prado 

with aboundant of space for 

all. Superior comfort and convenience 

for everyone on board is 

assured by a range of thoughtful 

amenities throughout the cabin. 

Powerful sound system, air conditioning 

system and ventilated 

seats, make the stay in the Prado 

more accommodating,while 

smart entry and start system ensures 

that you lock and unlock 

your Prado with ease. 

Prado boasts leading edge in 

safety as advanced technologies 

for safety performance inspire 

your trust and peace of mind. SRS 

airbags, energy-absorbing body 

structure, active headrests, vehicle 

stability control, emergency 

braking signal, pedestrian protect 

are all responsible for Prado’s 

five star rating safety. 

vehicle 

weight of 3.2 tonnes 

and runs on a five speed 

automatic transmission for petrol 

engines or an optional 7G- 

TRONIC PLUS seven speed 

transmission for diesel engines. 

The available BlueEfficiency 

package helps to reduce fuel 

consumption to seven litres per 

100 kilometres as its eco start/stop 

function promptly stops the 

engine during waiting periods in 

traffic and restarts it as soon as 

the driver is ready to move again. 

On the inside, the Sprinter 

combines functionality and 

comfort for an enjoyable driving 

experience. Standard equipment 

include black Tunjafabric seat 

covers and upholstery, laminated 

windshield glass, sun visor for 

driver and passenger, a side 

shelf, height adjustable head 

restraints for the driver and codriver, 

three-point seat belt for all 

seats. 

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 

offers a wide variety of optional 

extras to suit the needs of the 

driver.


Music tour: Davido set 

to take Nigeria by storm 

MULTIPLE award-winning pop star, Davido, has 

reeled out plans to shut down Nigeria as he 

embarks on a national tour tagged, “Back to Basics 2017 

tour.” The singer who made the announcement on his 

official Instagram page, wrote “Taking over the country. 

First of its kind.” 

Davido said he would be touring major cities in 

the country including Lagos, Ibadan, Osogbo, 

Benin, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt, and Ilorin. 

He will be the second Nigerian entertainer to 

embark on this laudable project, after 2face 

accomplished the feat in 2013, with his “2face 

and Friends Tour.” 

The project saw the “African Queen” crooner 

touring 12 institutions of higher learning in 

the country with the likes of Olamide, Sound 

Sultan, Seyi Shay, Timi Dakolo, Rocksteady, 

Durella, Dammy Krane, Capital FEMI, 

Harrysong, Crystals, Basketmouth among 


•Skales and 

Santos 

By Rotimi Agbana 

HIGHLY controversial 

Pana crooner, Tekno 

Miles, aka ‘Alhaji Tekno’, is 

presently in the United States 

for urgent medical treatment for 

acid reflux which he has been 

suffering for about a month 

now. 

The energetic stage 

performer who in his usual 

fashion sent his fans 

screaming in wild excitement 

at AY’s annual comedy/music 

concert last weekend, left the 

shores of Nigeria during the 

Skales goes emotional as he signs 

new artiste, Santos 

AFRO-pop singer, Skales went emotional, Tuesday, as he unveiled fastrising 

singer, Santos as the latest signee to his record label ,Ohk 

Entertainment. 

The pop singer presented his new act to the world via his Instagram page. 

While unveiling the singer, Skales expressed his deep love and 

belief in the young singer’s talent. He described Santos as “a force 

to reckon with”, adding “I can’t wait for you all to see why I so 

much believe in his talent. 

“In a world where the gifted ones often go unnoticed and most 

times under appreciated, one can only hope to find someone 

who would believe in you and your set goals. From day one, I 

always knew this guy would be an epitome of unrivalled talent. 

“He started out like I did; an ambitious guy with nothing but hopes 

and aspirations. 

“Had no one to give him a listening ear; just to understand how 

astounding his talent is. Luckily, I discovered him and the rest is 

history. I want to assure the world this dude is a force to reckon 

with. 

“I can’t begin to express the joy that abounds in my heart 

as I unveil to the world Santos, the latest Ohk 

Entertainment soldier. His debut single would be out 

tomorrow, people! I can’t wait for you all to see why I 

so much believe in his talent. Anticipate,” he wrote on 

his Instagram page. Santos is a Lagos-born singer and 

has a debut single titled ‘Ghetto’. 

Skales, who left Banky W-led EME in 2014 following the expiration 

of his four-year contract, presently has a recording deal with 

Baseline. The Kaduna-born rapper and singer recently 

completed work on his forthcoming album, The Never Say 

Never Guy. 

Tekno hospitalized in America 

week for an undisclosed 

hospital in the United States, 

to receive urgent medical 

attention before his condition 

worsens. 

He made the announcement 

on social media, apologizing to 

his fans and promoters for 

disappointing them for being 

unable to attend already 

booked shows. He pleaded with 

his fans and loved ones to pray 

for his quick recovery, 

promising to make it up to them 

when he returns to Nigeria hale 

and hearty. 

“I know I’ve disappointed a 

•Davido 

whole lot of promoters and my 

amazing fans worldwide. I’ve 

been sick for over a month now 

from acid reflux and it has 

worsened. I want to apologize 

for any inconvenience this 

may cause; all the show 

refunds and all the loss. I’m 

not taking any bookings now 

as I’m off to America for 

proper treatment; by God’s 

grace I’ll get better in no 

time and be back on stage. 

If you could share a little 

prayer for me I’ll be grateful. 

Good health to you and 

yours”, he wrote. 

•Tekno 

•Chief Eddie Ugboma and 

Alhaji Adedayo Thomas 

NFVCB boss 

plans to introduce 

Whistleblower 

policy 

By Benjamin Njoku 

FOLLOWING the resounding 

success recorded by the federal 

government in respect of its Whistle Blower 

policy, the newly appointed Executive 

Director of the National Film and Video 

Censors Board, NFVCB, Alhaji Adedayo 

Thomas, has revealed plans to introduce a 

similar policy in his agency. 

Thomas made this revelation during the 

week when he visited the Lagos office of 

the board. He also paid a courtesy visit to 

one of Nigeria’s foremost film makers, Chief 

Eddie Ugbomah in his quiet Ilogbo-Eremi 

country home along Badagry Road, Lagos. 

Addressing members of staff, the Censor 

Board boss said he would soon introduce 

the whistle blower policy in the board 

whereby a staff receives a certain 

percentage of any business he or she 

generates using their contacts. 

He challenged staff of the Board in the 

South West Zone to think out new ways of 

generating revenue for the body, stressing 

that he wants an aggressive revenue drive 

without being a burden on the 

stakeholders. 

Burden on the 

stakeholders 

Thomas said, he was not happy with what 

he saw on ground when he assumed 

duty at the head office in Abuja, noting 

that he was scared by the signals he 

received from the staff, as he was not 

a messiah. According to the NFVCA 

boss, the reception he received was 

an indirect signal about the enormity 

of the job at hand. 

Speaking further, he stated 

that he was frightened by the 

enormity of the job at hand, 

but assured the staff that 

everybody must buckle 

up to move the Board 

forward. 

Thomas, however, 

challenged the staff to 

come out with ideas, 

on how to move the 

Board forward, 

stressing, “I want a 

turnaround in the 

Board within 90 

days, rather than 

the customary 

100days.” 

T h o m a s 

succeeded Ms 

Patricia Bala as the 

Executive Director 

of the board.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017— 23 

Chief Nike Akande 

By Akinwunmi Ibrahim 

TO many, it’s still a 

mystery on how 

society matriarch, Chief 

(Dr.) Nike Onikepo 

Akande, strikes a balance 

between her social life 

and corporate 

engagements. This 

perception becomes 

necessary following her 

activeness in the two 

sectors. 

Whether as a socialite 

or a boardroom guru, the 

light-skinned Ibadan 

woman knows her onions 

and always matches 

without mis-stepping. 

She has proved this, over 

By Benjamin 

Njoku 

Society matriarch, Nike 

Akande soaring higher 

time, in many daunting 

positions of authority that 

she had headed. The 

delectable woman of 

many parts has come a 

long way and has in 

many ways become a 

household name, having 

made indelible marks on 

the minds of many upper 

echelons of society. 

In a country where men 

dominate the space, this 

woman of substance took 

the mantle of leadership 

at the Lagos Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry, 

LCCI, as its President, 

and has handled the 

assignment very well. 

Under her watch, the 

respected premier 

chamber of commerce in 

Nigeria has grown in 

leaps and bounds. It has 

also played some key 

roles in directing the 

present government on 

ways to overcome the 

Ex-Eagles striker, Emenike 

invests in real estate 

Stories by Tony Ibekwe 

FORGET the fact that 

Emmanuel Emenike 

has been jumping from 

one club to another in 

recent times, and may 

soon return to the EPL to 

continue his career back 

home. 

The striker has proven 

beyond reasonable 

doubts that he’s not only 

skilled in the round 

leather game but he is 

also a business man. 

Though he’s 

romantically linked with 

female celebrities, 

Emenike is preparing 

well for his retirement 

whenever he feels his 

time is up with active 

soccer. 

Like some of his 

colleagues, the striker has 

been investing in real 

estate, especially in his 

home state of Imo. At the 

free zone area of World 

Bank housing estate, 

Emenike has an eye 

popping eight duplex in 

one. 

He also reportedly 

erected another duplex 

in Imo housing estate, 

and another behind 

Greatwood hotels along 

Port Harcourt road. Each 

duplex Hi-Society 

gathers goes for N1.5m 

annually. In Lagos, an 

unconfirmed source also 

disclosed that he has a 

similar project in the 

highbrow Lekki. 

With such investments, 

not even a Miss World 

would fail to stick to the 

man for there must be life 

after football! 

IBAKATV boss ups the ante 

FROM 

all 

indications, CEO 

of one of the largest 

video-on-demand 

online platform, 

IbakaTV, Blessed Ilukor 

Idornigie, is a silent 

achiever. 

The young and vibrant 

Nigerian entrepreneur 

and humanitarian is 

gradually but steadily 

making his mark in the 

daunting economic 

recession in the country. 

No doubt, Chief 

Akande is a beautiful 

ageless society matriarch 

and boardroom guru, who 

has lived her enviable 

blissful dreams. Despite 

her age, the 

septuagenarian’s dress 

sense hardly deplete a bit 

whenever she’s spotted at 

any high profile occasion. 

In fact, she always looks 

girlish than ghoulish 

with charming smiles like 

“some sparking light rays 

that can illuminate a 

mansion.” 

A seasoned business 

administrator and 

accountant, she has 

evolved in over two 

decades as noteworthy 

industrialist in the 

economic landscape of the 

country. Many board 

rooms have been graced 

by the presence of this 

amiable accomplished 

woman. 

She was Director of the 

Nigerian Industrial 

Development Bank, 

NIDB; member of the 

Board of Trustees, of the 

National Centre for 

Women Development; 

member, panel to study 

and re-organize both the 



NNPC, and Trust 

Investment Company 

Limited, Ibadan; and 

Director of National 

Insurance Corporation of 

Nigeria, NICON, among 


This highly respected 

entrepreneur is still 

dedicating her years to 

more meritorious service 

to her fatherland. 

Shipping magnate, 

Chief Okwu expands 

into showbiz industry 

TOP 

shipping 

magnate, Chief 

Dennis Okwu, is known 

in the freight forwarding 

business as Managing 

Director of Sweet Apple 

Group. He is an 

influential member of the 

Association of Nigerian 

Licensed Customs Agents 

motion picture industry. 

Having ventured into 

many online businesses, 

from e-gold to multilevel 

marketing, up to five 

different companies, he 

discovered that 

Nollywood content is 

highly demanded within 

and outside the shores 

of the country, hence he 

began the journey of 

IbakaTV. 

ANLCA. Recently, this 

chairman of Sweet Apple 

Services group has 

expanded his business 

into entertainment. 

Okwu who now owns 

Destic World 

Entertainment recently 

signed his first act, 

Emmanuel Kalu, better 

known as E-Marshall. 

According to him, he 

decided to invest in the 

entertainment industry 

not only because of the 

passion he has for it but 

also because it is the most 

‘lucrative business one 

can think of.’ 

However, before 

delving into showbiz, 

Chief Okwu as a 

philanthropist, has been 

sponsoring several sport 

and cultural activities in 

his country home of 

Ikeduru, Imo State. 

Stakeholders commend FG, as 

airlines resume flights to Abuja 

Stories by Lawani 

Mikairu 

A VIATION 

stakeholders 

have commended the 

federal government for 

keeping to the Six weeks 

time duration for the 

rehabilitation of the Abuja 

Airport runway. 

This is just as all the 

domestic airlines currently 

operating in Nigeria have 

resumed flight operations 

to Nnamidi Azikiwe 

International Airport, 

Abuja after it was opened 

on Tuesday , a day earlier 

than scheduled reopening 

date. President Aviation 

Roundtable, ART, Mr 

Gabriel Olowo while 

commending the 

government said: “We in 

ART salute the minister of 

Aviation and his agencies 

for living true to its promise 

to deliver Abuja run way 

on schedule as we count 

down to April 19. 

Essential and 

necessary support 

“Measurable deliverable 

remains our challenge in 

the sector and we are quite 

pleased the minister even 

put his job on the line on 

the project during ART 

breakfast meeting with 

himself and the 

information minister. 

“We appreciate the 

presidency for giving the 

FAAN restricts operational hours at 

cargo terminal 

FEDERAL Airports Authority of 

Nigeria , FAAN, has set up a 

taskforce to screen operations within the 

cargo terminal. This is an effort to curb 

illegal activities and eliminate touting at 

the Hajj and Cargo Terminal area of the 

Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), 

Lagos. Activities at the terminal are now 

restricted to 12 hours (7am-7pm) from the 

initial 24 hours period. 

According to FAAN the exit and 

entrance gates at the terminal would now 

be opened for commercial activities as from 

7am while the gates are locked at 7pm. 

The agency however said that the new 

regime would not affect the operational 

activities, but commercial activities within 

the terminal. Confirming the new 

restriction , the Terminal Manager, Hajj 

and Cargo Terminal Manager, Mr. Asizehi 

Musa said that the essence of the taskforce 

was not to “ threaten any agency or 

operator, but to ensure sanity at the 

terminal, reduce touts and touting 

activities and make the nation’s airports 

compliant with the recommendations of 

the International Civil Aviation 

Organisation (ICAO) standards.” 

He also said that with the new approach, 

no truck would henceforth be allowed to 

spend the night at the terminal, stressing 

that the management had over the years 

frowned at such practices. 

To make the new initiative work, Musa 

said FAAN would provide a patrol vehicle, 

which would monitor activities at the 

terminal and ensure that only those who 

essential and necessary 

support to make this 

happen on schedule. It is 

our prayer that such 

purposeful actions is 

sustained in the sector as 

we demand that Aviation 

delivers 1 % of Nigeria 

GDP by 2020 as against the 

present meager 0.4 %. We 

demand for measurable 

growth on the Airline side 

and the Airports.” 

Commending the federal 

government also , the 

Minister of Information, 

Alhaji Lai Muhammed in 

a statement signed by Mr 

Segun Adeyemi, Senior 

Assistant to the Minister, 

said the timely completion 

of the Nnamdi Azikiwe 

International Airport, 

Abuja, runway that paved 

the way for the re-opening 

of the airport, after a sixweek 

closure, “ has shown 

the ability of the Buhari 

Administration to rise up to 

any occasion, irrespective 

of how daunting the 

challenge may be.” 

The minister also said 

the “clock-work precision 

with which everything 

concerning the closure of 

the Nnamdi Azikiwe 

International Airport and 

the temporary relocation to 

the Kaduna Airport was 

handled by the relevant 

ministries and the security 

agencies is the clearest 

indication yet that Nigeria 

can tackle any challenge. 

’It is to the credit of the 

security agencies and the 

Federal Road Safety Corps 

that passengers travelling 

along the ever-busy Abuja- 

Kaduna highway were 

largely kept safe while the 

closure of the Abuja airport 

lasted. There was no 

known security scare while 

accidents on the road were 

kept at the barest 

minimum, despite the 

increased vehicular traffic. 

Who can forget the timely 

departure and arrival of the 

Abuja-Kaduna train that 

ferried thousands of 

passengers back and forth 

during the Abuja airport 

closure”? 

‘’Indeed, the closure of 

the Abuja airport runway 

and the logistic nightmare 

it triggered must rank 

among the most 

intimidating challenges 

faced by this Administration. 

It’s ability to live up 

to expectation by 

delivering the project even 

before the scheduled date 

has further confirmed that 

Nigerians elected a 

responsive, responsible 

and capable federal 

government in 2015,’’ the 

minister said. 

Meanwhile, all domestic 

airlines have resumed 

flight operations to Abuja 

Airport. Announcing their 

resumption of flight 

operations to Abuja Airport 

, Mr Roland Ohaeri, Head, 

Corporate Communications. 

have business to transact within the 

terminal are allowed in. 

Issue of access control 

Musa assured that FAAN would 

cooperate with all stakeholders especially 

the cargo agents, Nigeria Customs 

Service, ground handling companies, 

Nigeria Police and other stakeholders 

within the terminal. 

He said; “For many years, the issue of 

access control has been on the front burner 

and it seems the FAAN is incapacitated, 

which is not true. But, we can’t allow things 

to continue like this. Access control is very 

important and necessary to the safety of 

all users. The era of 34 hours operation 

would be a thing of the past. 

“As from this moment, activities are now 

reduced to 12 hours and I seek the 

cooperation of all. However, there will be 

sensitisation exercise before the taskforce 

commences work in full. But, the restriction 

exercise does not affect operation areas. 

It’s only for commercial purpose. 

Mr. Benjamin Adewunmi, the Chief 

Security Officer (CSO) of Hajj and Cargo 

Terminal, said that the task force was 

necessary to take full control of the territory 

by FAAN. He declared that if the taskforce 

was able to carry out its activities dutifully, 

security and safety of persons, equipment 

and cargo would further be enhanced. 

Like Musa, Adewunmi called for the 

cooperation of all, most especially the 

customs agents whom he described as 

partners in progress. He vowed that the 

organisation would ensure the success 

and sustainability of the new regime.


Rajab 17, 1438 A.H. 

Jigawa Pilgrims board educates 170 for hajj job 

By Aliyu Dangida 

JIGAWA State Pilgrims 

Welfare Board has 

organized a one-day train-thetrainer 

programme for 170 

facilitators, to train the state’s 

intending pilgrims for the 2017 

Hajj exercise. 

The Public Relations Officer of 

the board, Alhaji Ibrahim 

Hasheem, stated this while 

speaking with newsmen in Dutse, 

said five facilitators, three males 

and two females were drawn from 

each of the 27 local government 

areas of the state for the exercise. 

Ibrahim explained that the 

facilitators would in turn train the 

intending pilgrims at designated 

centers across the state, added that 

the gesture was to ensure proper 

training of the pilgrims on the 

basic tenets of Hajj. 

Cardinal principles 

of the Hajj 

His words:-”After the train-thetrainer 

program, the facilitators are 

expected to go back to their 

respective local government areas 

to step down the training. They 

are mandated to train prospective 

pilgrims on obligations, tenets and 

cardinal principles of the Hajj the 

exercise. And the board will 

supervise the exercise in order to 

ensure that each and every 

prospective pilgrim participate in 

the exercise,” he said. 

According to him, proper 

education of pilgrims would 

prepare them to conduct the Hajj 

in accordance with the teachings 

of Islam and be good ambassadors 

of the country, pointed out that it 

would also give the intending 

pilgrims the opportunity to know 

proper and acceptable Hajj rites. 

One of the resource persons, Dr 

AbdulKadir Saleh, drew the 

attention of the intending pilgrims 

towards the obligations that 

needed to observed and respected 

accordingly, especially in Mecca 

and Minna. 

Among such rules are; every 

intending pilgrim is expected to 

AREWA24 

has 

announced its new 

Ramadan programming lineup 

for 2017. AREWA24 is the first 

“home-grown” 24/7 Hausalanguage 

satellite television 

channel produced by and for 

Northern Nigerians as well as 

Hausa speakers throughout 

Nigeria and beyound. 

This year, Ramadan starts on 

or around May 26 or 27 and runs 

through to 26 June. In addition 

to integrating Ramadan themes 

into AREWA24’s most popular 

programs, the channel will 

feature a compelling slate of 

original Ramadan shows. 

These original productions 

include “Lessons from the Life 

of the Prophet,” a thoughtprovoking 

series that can be 

applied to everyday life and; 

“Akushi Da Rufi,” a cooking 

show that highlights Northern 

avoid using force against other 

pilgrims, smoking, as well as 

avoiding sitting on the entrances 

of the prophets mosque. 

Others, he said, are dropping 

anything that may pose as 

harmful to people such as water 

sachets and the symbolic 

spraying of grains to birds in 

Mecca. It could be recalled that 

the National Hajj Commission of 

Nigeria (NAHCON) had 

allocated 2,677 seats to the state 

for the 2017 Hajj to Jigawa State. 

Arewa24 launches Ramadan satellite 

Nigerian culinary traditions. 

AREWA24 will also feature 

popular international Ramadan 

programming throughout its daily 

lineup. According to Rakiya 

Usman, AREWA24’s Head of 

Production, “Staying home with the 

family is part of the Ramadan 

tradition, so the most successful 

Ramadan TV shows are primarily 

geared toward family audiences and 

family entertainment. AREWA24 

joins our Northern Nigerian viewers 

in celebration by providing 

specialized programming for the 

whole family,” stated Ms. Usman. 

For the first time this year, 

AREWA24 will be creating original 

branded content for some of its 

advertising partners. With its major 

production facilities in Kano, 

AREWA24 is able to create original, 

locally-relevant branded short-form 

content in Hausa and tailored to 

local themes, tastes and aspirations. 

Prof. Daud Noibi, Executive Secretary, MUSWEN; Kola Animashaun; Prince Rabiu Oluwa, 

APC chieftain; Alhaji Sakariyau Babalola, NSCIA Vice President and President General, 

MUSWEN; Alhaji Lukman Adebiyi, National President, Ahmadiyya-in-Islam Movement of 

Nigeria, Alhaji Lawal Pedro and Chief Ahmed Akasoro, the Ashogbon of Lagos representing 

the Oba of Lagos during the launching of a book marking centenary celebration of Ahmadiyyain-Islam, 

Nigeria held at UNILAG, Lagos. 

Barka Jumah 

Allah alone commands unchallengeable powers 

that forgives and answers all prayers. 

Who else do we face at times of turmoil for solace 

other than Him? He’s our father of love, peace 

and joy. 

Ever practice justice and pray harder. Lean on 

Allah forever and His everlasting favors shall 

bathe your life. May Allah be pleased with you 

and all yours. 

Each time that you do good, you have enforced 

deeds so exceptional that it chanced upon all 

things that honor Allah. 

The inspiration released from your good and 

virtuous deeds becomes the lantern of love of all 

and hatred of none that beams eternal joy and 

hope upon humanity. Ever do good! 

May Allah yield to each of us the powers of piety 

that roundly expand our love of one another. Happy 

Jumah —Dr. Adewale Adeeyo, OON 

From left: Chief Imam/missioner, NUD, Worldwide Imam 

Sheikh Kehinde Yunus, New Imam Alhaji Mumin Adelekan 

Akinola, Alhaji Rasak Oladejo, National President and others 

during the turbanning of the second Chief Imam of Nawair-Ur- 

Deen Society of Nigeria, Igbogila Branch held at NUD Central 

Mosques, Igbogila. Photo: Wumi Akinola 

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C 

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VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017---25 

Anwar-ul-Islam 101st annual conference 

Rajab 17, 1438 A.H. 

Quran, Hadith have antidotes to 

corruption— Kosoko 

By Monsuru Olowoopejo 

THE former Special 

Adviser to the Lagos 

State Governor on Religious 

Matters, Alh. Abdul-Hakeem 

Kosoko, has said Quran and 

Hadith have the antidote to end 

corrupt practices in the country. 

Meanwhile Justice Ishola 

Olorunnimbe (retd), has urged 

Nigerians not to wither from 

supporting President 

Muhammadu Buhari to achieve 

his purpose in office. 

They spoke at the lecture 

organized by Shooting Stars of 

Islam (SSI), to mark its 75th 

anniversary, themed 

‘Corruption and the impact on 

the Muslim Ummah, in Lagos 

State. 

While delivering his lecture, 

Kosoko lamented that some 

Muslim youths brainstorm on equity, 

justice in Nigeria 

THE Ahmadiyya Muslim 

Islamic organization 

youths wing, Majlis Khuddam 

Ahmadiyya, in Nigeria, recently 

gathered in Ikirun, Osun State 

for its 44th annual National 

Youth Convention, held at 

Federal Government College 

Ikirun, State of Osun. 

The three-day annual 

convention discussed: 'Equity, 

Justice and Good Conscience: 

the true creative principles with 

the lead paper delivered by an 

erudite Islamic scholar and 

motivational speaker, Muallim 

Abass Agbaje. 

Highlights of the convention 

were free healthcare delivery at 

the palace of Akirun of Ikirun; a 

public lecture on Islamic 

Solutions to Economic 

Recession also delivered by 

Muallim Abdul-Waiz Apooyin, 

leaders in the country were 

involve in unlawful 

accumulation of wealth, 

depriving others from obtaining 

their fair share in the society. 

He said: “The only way out 

of our present predicament 

(corrupt practices), is for us to 

go back to the bases, which are, 

the Quran and Hadith 

(sunnah); from these, we will 

understand that unlawful 

accumulation of wealth will 

take one nowhere.” 

The Cleric argued that 

Nigerians would desist from 

corrupt practices when they 

understand they will account for 

whatever they earn on earth to 

their Creator, saying, we will do 

the right thing. On the ongoing 

anti-graft war, the former 

special adviser urged the 

government to be steady in the 

National President of the 

Ahmadi Muslim Students’ 

Association. 

As part of the convention, 

Ahmadi youths also engaged in 

a procession and community 

development exercise in Ikirun 

township. 

The event also featured 

speech contests, Quran 

recitation competition, sports 

events, quiz competitions as 

well as presentation of awards 

of excellence to state chapters 

of the organization who 

excelled in different categories. 

Majlis Khuddam-ul- 

Ahmadiyya, founded in Nigeria 

in 1972, facilitates moral and 

spiritual training of youth and 

aimes at developing members’ 

spiritually and moral qualities 

such as piety, honesty and fair 

dealing and allow them to 

Chairman, Ahmadiyya National Education Commission (ANEC), 

Alhaji Mikail Odukoya (left) presenting certificate of participation 

to Prince Hashim Abdul Raheem and others, during the first seminar 

of ANEC in Lagos. 

fight, noting, all arms of 

government must key into the 

fight. 

According to him, I want 

everyone to be up and doing 

especially our leaders should 

be good example for their 

followers. This is because the 

children need to learn 

something good from the 

leaders. We need to change for 

good. 

Earlier the president of the 

society, Alh Nosrudeen Kekere- 

Ekun, stressed the need to 

enlighten children to desist from 

any unlawful act. 

His words, “We understand 

that it may take time before the 

adults inculcate fairness. But if 

we begin to inculcate good 

morals in our children at this 

time, we would be addressing 

corruption.” 

positively contribute to 

development of the society in 

which they live. 

MKAN also serves the needs 

of all members of society 

irrespective of colour, race, 

religion or creed and promotes 

interfaith dialogue and cooperation 

in order to promote 

peace and harmony. 

From left: Prof. Daud Noibi, Executive Seccretary, MUSWEN; 

Imam Idris Lediju; Sheikh AbdulHafeez Abou, OFR, Baba Adini 

of Lagos; Senator Hassan Fasinro, OFR and Alhaji Barr. 

Mubashir Ojelade, President, Anwar-ul-Islam Movement of 

Nigeria during its 101st annual conference held in Anwar Model 

Colege, Agege, Lagos. 

From left: Alhaja Fatima Oyefeso, representative of Deputy 

Governor of Lagos State; HRH Oba Kamila Isiba Olusanyin 1, 

Olu of Agege and Prof. Tajudeen Gbadamosi of UNILAG at the 

occasion. 

Cross section of members of Anwar-ul-Islam Movement of 

Nigeria at the event. 

Anwar-ul-Islam lauds Buhari on war against 

corruption, Boko Haram 

ARISING from its 101st annual 

conference held in Lagos, the 

Anwar-ul-Islam Movement of 

Nigeria has lauded the President 

Muhammadu Buhari-led 

government on its achievements on 

war against corruption and Boko 

Haram terrorists group. President of 

the foremost Islamic group, Barr. 

Mubashir Ojelade made this known 

while speaking with Vanguard on 

the just concluded conference held 

at Anwar-ul-Islam Model College, 

Oniwaya road, Agege, Lagos. 

“We commend the Federal 

Government for the achievements 

recorded in the fight against Boko 

Haram and insurgents in the last two 

years but no effort should be spared 

until all terrorist groups are finally 

crushed. Anybody or group who 

commits a crime or precipitates 

violence under the guise of religion 

should be dealt with under the laws 

of the land. 

“However, the Federal 

Government must take urgent steps 

to curb ethno religious clashes and 

killings across the country. A proactive 

multi dimensional and multi 

disciplinary approach that will 

involve security agencies, the 

legislature, the judiciary and 

community leaders must be adopted 

to enable the government to deal 

with and manage such crisis 

effectively. 

“We condemn in strong terms the 

unending clashes and blood-letting 

in Southern Kaduna and urge the 

Federal and Kaduna State 

Governments to intensify actions that 

will bring lasting solution to the crisis. 

The government must be balanced, 

deep and painstaking in its 

investigations in view of the fact that 

clashes have continued to occur in 

spite of previous enquiries and 

reports on similar crisis in the region. 

“Government must pay greater 

attention to the plight of refugees and 

displaced persons in the country 

particularly the North East and fulfil 

it’s promise by adopting international 

best practices and standards in 

rehabilitating displaced persons. 

Allegations of fraud and/or 

misappropriation of funds earmarked 

for the welfare of displaced persons 

must be properly investigated and 

those found culpable prosecuted 

accordingly. As a panacea to crime, 

government must take prompt and 

effective steps to improve the 

economy and create jobs for millions 

of unemployed youths on the streets. 

Like the war against Boko Haram, 

the war against the economic 

recession, deprivation, decease, 

hunger, anger and oppression must 

be won by the government through 

sound and sustainable economic 

policies. 

“We salute the achievements of the 

Federal Government in the fight 

against corruption but warn that the 

war is at risk of losing it’s steam or 

crashing ‘unless certain actions are 

taken to sustain the present tempo. 

It is imperative to sensitize the 

citizens, schools, mosques, 

churches, market men and 

women etc., that the war is to be 

fought by all, not General 

Muhammadu Buhari alone. A 

situation where ex-convicts and 

confirmed treasury looters are being 

celebrated is a matter of grave 

concern,” he stated. 

The Movement also urged 

President Buhari to reconsider his 

economic team, ministers and other 

appointments made with a view to 

re-jigging them for better 

performance.

C 

M 

Y 

K 


Yoruba gods, food shine in Brazil 

By ‘Boye Oseni 

THERE is an old saying, 

dating back to those inglorious slavedealing 

days on the South American 

plantations that still make the rounds today 

in Salvador, Bahia State, and the first 

colonial capital of Brazil. Slaves, mostly 

Yorubas from West Africa, reportedly 

confronted their slave-masters with this 

bold prediction, “Your people may have 

conquered us, but our culture will 

eventually conquer you.” 

Salvador, Bahia, is an important 

cornerstone of the celebrated and vibrant 

Brazilian national tourism, but that industry 

in this nation’s fourth largest city by 

population swims along in a deep current 

of old Yoruba influence. This is one place 

beyond old Yorubaland where you wake 

up to the sweet and exotic aroma of palm 

oil wafting from all corners. 

Step out, and Yoruba traditional gods are 

waiting with their holy embraces on street 

corners. Step in to the tourist section and 

you get welcomed in this foreign land by 

people in distinctly gorgeous Yoruba attires. 

Far away from its West Africa home base, 

it’s certain to proclaim that Yoruba 

traditional culture is well, alive, and openly 

dictating the samba moves in this northeastern 

corner of Brazil. 

Street corners 

and public squares 

Yoruba gods, giants of Yorubaland of yore, 

are enjoying unsurpassed embrace here 

in a foreign land that has also learned to 

appreciate and proudly uphold revered 

Yoruba mores, ranging from dresses, food, 

music, and religion. An average day here 

in Salvador is suffused in open sightings 

and reverence of Yorubaland, an experience 

bound to be ignited by the sighting of a 

certain mid afternoon ubiquity unexpected 

in this clime. 

These are the Baianas de acarajé, 

famous stalls and respected 

merchandizing chambers for fried bean 

cakes (akara, the popular pan-Yoruba 

delicacy), dotting most street corners and 

public squares here mid afternoon. Here, 

women dressed in flowing white attires, 

reminiscent of Yemoja worshippers in 

Yoruba land of old, sit in their stalls, 

religiously rolling out magnificent akara 

balls - deeply fried, fresh, hot and steamy, 

and drenched in good old red palm-oil - 

for unending lines of patrons. An 

assortment of mouth-watering offerings 

garnished with dried shrimps and hot 

pepper that will freely compete with the 

world famous “akara’Jesha” and possibly 

out duel the old “s’ekepu”offerings on 

Ibadan streets of old. 

Early to late evenings may go to 

encounters with akassa, a culinary cross 

between the traditional Yoruba corn meal 

(ekÍ yangan), shapala and moin-moin - 

additional delicious offerings from the nowtransformed 

mid-afternoon akara 

chambers, all beautifully wrapped in the 

traditional palm frond leaves. 

The only thing missing here is a calabash 

of foamy palm-wine and you will be smack 

back in any old ÌyÍ town. Given the 

abundance of palm trees and coconut all 

over town here,it’s a good bet some good 

palm wine tipple must be here some place 

awaiting an adventurous tapper. For the 

daring adventurer, the food stalls 

experience here is a call to further cultural 

exploration trips that may sure lead to the 

terreiros – the temple or the grove of gods 

– to partake in Candomble, a fusion of 

African religions combining Yoruba, Fon 

and Bantu cultures but largely dominated 

by Yoruba Orica worship. 

Depending on which of the many 

temples in town that you land, it’s not 

unexpected that you end the night with a 

round of ‘amalu.’ Rings familiar? That is 

the Yoruba amala – dark, rich and supple – 

which you are invited to demolish with forks 

or knives, Just come as you are, and bring 

those organic natural forks (fingers); a 

familiar scenario from hearth. 

Step out in the day, familiar faces of Yoruba 

women in their ‘abadas’ (a form of skirt, 

‘Kaba,’ as those roomy skirts that used to 

be common in Yorubaland are called), 

pearly smooth dark skinsand proud 

“pepsodent” smiles greet you on public 

transportations billboards, heralding 

tourism in Salvador. These are the “Minha 

Linda” (My Lovelies) of Salvador. You could 

of course call them the ÌmÍ-Oge(s)of 

Salvador tourism and you would be right. 

If only these women spoke Yoruba, they 

would be Aduk¹ or Anik¹in any Yoruba 

town. Or they could just be ’Yetunde, to 

again affirm another of Prof. Soyinka’s 

observation of the power of Yoruba culture 

to integrate ancestors into the present. 

Whatever your take, these are plain natural 

black pearls – no bleaching, no ‘yellowfever 

skin.’ Simply and without arguments, 

proud jewels of inherited Yoruba women 

beauty. 

Again, they stand proudly in contrast to 

women encountered on a recent travel in 

modern Yorubaland, from mega Lagos to 

sprawling Ibadan and the historical 

Abeokuta city, where it seemed women 

have become nothing but masquerades in 

motion with heads dominated by those 

wild and scary head-scratching “Brazilian 

weaves.” 

For a glimpse into and additional 

appreciation of the glories of Yoruba 

traditional religious past, welcome to Dique 

Do Tororo (or maybe, make that Totoro, a 

popular section in my own Abeokuta, Ogun 

An 

average 

day here 

in 

Salvador 

is suffused 

in open 

sightings 

and 

reverence 

of 

Yorubaland 

State) next to the 

world-class Fonte 

Nava Arena in the 

Itaipava section of 

Salvador. Come 

here to engage with 

Yoruba gods in their 

splendor. 

On this massive 

lake in a corner of 

Salvador, you are 

confronted with the 

giant sculptures of 

selected twelve 

‘Orixas’ (Ori’as in 

Yorubaland) proudly 

alive in public eye 

(oju aiye)and 

surrounded by a 

beautiful park in the 

city center for all to behold and adore. 

Here, proud Yoruba gods stand tall, 

occupying dignified spots next to the 

revered local space reserved for that special 

god dearest to the Brazilian heart – the 

god of soccer. 

Arriving at this spot, you wonder where 

else in these times you can find such grand 

public display of Yoruba gods (Ori’as) in 

their magical splendor. Surely not in 

modern Yoruba land, where neglect has 

resulted from years of colonial persecution, 

full frontal assault from missionaries, both 

foreign and local, and modern day 

religionists , who have combined to forcibly 

relegate local gods to the realm of the 

uncouth, and dismissively labeled 

adherents as mere idol worshippers 

(“awon aborica”).



MOTORISTS plying the 

Akure-Ilesha 

expressway have cried out over 

the incessant robbery activities by 

hoodlums suspected to be 

herdsmen who kidnap, rape, kill, 

maim and dispossess them of 

their hard earned money running 

into millions of naira in the last 

two months. Infact, deep rooted 

fear now grip motorists plying the 

highway following reports of the 

daily robberies carried out there. 

Reports have it that passengers 

in commercial buses result in 

fervent prayers when they are 

about getting to this axis of the 

highway and after escaping any 

attack, they give praises to God 

for their divine escape. 

Within this period, some 

important personalities have lost 

their lives during the spate of 

unchecked robberies on the 

highway. More worrisome is the 

lukewarm attitude of security 

operatives in both Ondo and 

Osun states to the plight of 

motorists who cannot but ply this 

road because of a lack of an 

alternative. Of concern also was 

that the robbers carry out their 

nefarious activities despite several 

security check points on the busy 

expressway. Some motorists 

believed that the robbers live 

inside the thick forest and return 

there after each operation 

outwitting security agencies each 

time. 

Escape from the 

robbery scene 

Reports had it that the robbers 

also engage in kidnapping on the 

road and only release their victims 

after payment of ransom by their 

families. One of those who met 

his untimely death was the former 

Managing Director of Daily 

Times, Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba, 

who was killed while returning 

from the launching of former 

President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 

Presidential Library in Abeokuta, 

Ogun State. His vehicle ran into 

the robbers during one of their 

operations in the area around Ero 

village just before Ilara Mokin in 

Ifedore council area of Ondo 

State. 

Onukaba who reportedly 

abandoned his vehicle to take 

cover at a nearby bush was, 

however, knocked down by 

another commercial bus, trying to 

escape from the robbery scene. He 

died instantly after the bus ran 

over him why trying to find a 

hiding iplace. The bus driver then 

escaped. 

Vanguard was equally informed 

of the murder of a top banker with 

one of the new generation banks 

in Akure, Ondo State, Sola Abe, 

by the hoodlums on the same 

highway. The late Abe who was 

travelling alongside his driver to 

•Akure-Ilesha highway 

Lagos on official duty was 

attacked by the robbers. Abe's 

lifeless body was later found in 

the bush between Igbara Oke/Ilara 

Mokin in Ifedore council area of 

the state three days after they 

were attacked. His driver however 

survived but with bullets lodged 

in his body. He was on admission 

in the hospital for weeks. 

Findings from motorists plying 

the highway showed that the 

operations of the robbers have 

been extended to areas such as 

Owena, Erin Ijesha and Ipetu 

Ijesha in Osun State. 

Victims narrate ordeal: 

Narrating his experience in the 

hands of the robbers, a 

commercial bus driver, Alaba 

Odusote, said that his vehicle was 

badly damaged when he 

managed to escape from being 

attacked by the hoodlums 

between Ipetu Ijesha and Owena 

in Osun State last month. 

According to him, “The robbers 

shot at the bus and I lost control 

of it. They came after us and 

ransacked the bus, carting away 

passengers’ goods and money 

and injuring occupants of the 

vehicle in the process. I spent 

about four weeks in the hospital 

nursing the injuries from the 

accident and the gun shot.” 

He said that the attackers 

mostly wielded cutlasses, knives 

and clubs, adding,“several efforts 

had been made by the community 

heads in the areas, such as 

seeking the assistance of security 

operatives to curb the activities 

of the armed robbers who seemed 

to have made the highway their 

den." 

Odusote, however, said that the 

security operatives in the state 

should not rule out the fact that 

some of the perpetrators lived 

within these communities where 

these robberies were carried out, 

pointing out that the Police had 

failed to curtail the activities of the 

bandits. A community leader, 

Alhaji Lateef Ibiyemi, lamented 

that the Police had not been as 

cooperative as they would have 

expected in curbing the activities 

of the bandits on the highway. 

Ibiyemi said the Police had 

failed on several occasions to 

respond to distress calls made to 

them by victims and motorists. He 

passionately appealed to both 

Osun and Ondo State 

governments to save the people 

from the hoodlums who are 

terrorizing motorists on the 

highway. 

Odusote said, "When the road 

was bad, people used to sleep on 

this road without fear, but the 

robberies, which evolved into a 

Several efforts had 

been made by the 

community heads in 

the areas, such as 

seeking the 

assistance of security 

operatives to curb 

activities of the 

robbers who seemed 

to have made the 

highway their den 

trend, since the construction of 

the road; have made it more or 

less a taboo to travel any time on 

this road without fear.” 

Vanguard was informed that 

some communities in the areas 

had formed themselves into 

vigilante groups following 

allegations that some of their 

youths perpetrate the crime. 

The efforts of one of such 

Where 

robbers, 

kidnappers 

reign supreme 

vigilante groups, with the 

assistance of military men who 

were stationed at a checkpoints 

foiled one of the robbery 

operations recently as they 

engaged the bandits in a shootout 

which led to the killing of a 

member of a six-man armed 

robbery gang which operated 

along the Akure-Ilesha road. 

Others who escaped into the 

thick forest reportedly sustained 

gun injuries during the shoot-out 

with the military men. Vanguard 

learned the robbers were 

operating in the early hours of the 

day when the vigilante group and 

the soldiers manning the 

checkpoint at Igbara Oke were 

informed. 

Assistance of 

military men 

AKURE-ILESHA HIGHWAY: 

•Criminals operate at will despite 

police assurance 

•No update on Adinoyi Ojo’s 

death — Police 

On arrival at the scene, the 

robbers engaged them in the gun 

duel and were able to foil their 

operation. Findings by Vanguard 

showed that the robbers usually 

operate during the rush hours of 

the morning or during weekends 

and in the evenings when 

motorists are returning home. The 

robbers, who operated in large 

numbers, usually use heavy tree 

trunks to block the highway, in 

order to force their victims to stop 

before attacking them. Reports 

had it that the robbers are usually 

in groups of not more than 10 

when embarking on an operation. 

Vanguard was informed that the 

robbers do not use masks to shield 

their identities during operations. 

It was gathered that while some 

operated on the road, others 

positioned themselves on the 

branches of trees while another 

group acted as the armourer that 

supplied arms to those operating 

on the road from the side bushes. 

The robbers, according to 

findings, usually camouflage by 

dressing like the villagers or 

farmers returning from their 

farms before attacking the 

unsuspecting motorists. Another 

tactic used to stop vehicles was to 

pretend to be hawking cold 

drinks in the scorching sun. 

Police assures of safety: 

Speaking with Vanguard, the 

state Police command image 

maker, Femi Joseph, confirmed 

the activities of the robbers on the 

road but said that the highway is 

now under 24hr survillance. 

Joseph added that the command 

had fortified the area by 

deploying both plain clothe and 

uniformed detectives to patrols the 

road following complaints from 

motorists.He confirmed that the 

police, military men and some 

vigilante groups in the area 

recently engaged the hoodlums, 

killing one of the robbers while 

others escaped with bullet 

wounds. Joseph assured 

members of the public that the 

state police command was on top 

of the situation. 

Also, speaking on the activities 

of the hoodlums on the road 

which incidentally has a military 

check point on the axis and their 

foiling of a robbery operation 

recently, the Assistant Director of 

Public Relations of the Artillery 

Brigade, Captain Ojo Adelegan, 

appealed to the public to offer 

useful information that could lead 

to the arrest of fleeing members 

of the robbery gang. 

Adelegan said, “The general 

public is hereby enjoined to 

please give useful information on 

any suspected criminals and their 

hideouts to the security agency 

in Ondo State. The Nigerian 

Army and other security agencies 

in the state would continue to 

ensure the security of lives and 

properties of the people of this 

state.”


OSUN STATE 

•Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (middle), Deputy Governor, 

Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Onanuga (left), Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), 

in charge of South West region, Foluso Adebanjo (2nd left), Assistant Inspector 

General of Police, (AIG) Adamu Ibrahim (2nd right) and Commissioner, 

Ogun State Police Command, Ahmed Illiyasu (right) after a courtesy 

call on the state governor in his Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta office. 

EDITOR: 

Adeleke Adeseri 

CORRESPONDENTS: 

Dapo Akinrefon 

Ola Ajayi 

Gbenga Olarinoye 

Dayo Johnson 

Olasunkanmi Akoni 

Daud Olatunji 

Rotimi Ojomoyela 

Monsuru Olowoepejo 

THE TEAM 

08054682557 (sms only) 

Lagos 

Ibadan 

Osogbo 

Akure 

Lagos 

Abeokuta 

Ekiti 

L-R Lagos State 

Deputy Governor, 

Dr. Idiat Oluranti 

Adegbule, Tutor 

General/Permanent 

Secretary, 

Education District 

I, Dr. Yinka 

Ayandele and 

Acting President, 

All Nigeria 

Confederation of 

Principals of 

Secondary Schools, 

ANCOPSS, Lagos 

State, Mr. Olatunde 

Adetolu Isaac and 

others during the 

opening ceremony 

of science and 

cultural exhibition 

to mark Lagos @ 50 

event by the 

Education District 

in Agege, Lagos. 

• L-R: Ogun State Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Onanuga; Olori 

Adebayo; Olu of Ibogun, Oba Sunday Adebayo; former President Olusegun 

Obasanjo; his wife, Bola; elder statesman, Chief Doja Adewolu; Ogun State 

Commissioner for Chieftancy and Local Government Affairs, Chief Jide Ojuko; 

and Chairman, Ifo Local Government Council, Hon. Olanrewaju Bello, during 

the installation and presentation of Staff of Office to Oba Adebayo in Ibogun 

•From left: Jimoh Lukman, Shittu Toibat and Azeez Rafiu, with some of the 

beneficiaries 

NYSC helps physically 

challenged in its Osun base 

By Gbenga Olarinoye 

THE relationship between the 

National Youth Service Corps and 

Ede community, a town where the camp 

of NYSC is located in Osun State, has 

been further strengthened with the 

recent donation of wheelchairs to some 

physically challenged individuals by 

the NYSC in the town. 

The Osun State Coordinator, Mr. 

Emmanuel Attah, who led other officials 

of NYSC to the palace of Timi of Ede, 

Oba Muniru Lawal, disclosed that Ede 

has been known for peace since the 

NYSC camp was situated in the town. 

Attah who said the Director-General 

of the Scheme, Suleiman Kazaure, 

directed that the three wheelchairs be 

presented to three physically 

challenged people who are indigent in 

the state, added that the choice of Ede 

was to further strengthen the love that 

has existed between the two for decades 

now. The NYSC coordinator said, “the 

DG is not only passionate about the 

welfare of corps members and its staff 

but also about the community in which 

we find ourselves.” 

Physically 

challenged 

Attah noted that the choice of Ede was 

not by accident, but because it hosts the 

NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, 

saying the town remains the first point 

of call for any corps members coming 

to Osun State. “And in honour and 

respect to our father, the Timi of Ede, 

Oba Muniru Lawal, Laminisa l, we 

cannot but start with the host 

community with this three chairs to be 

given to the physically challenged. 

More of this chairs are still been 

expected to be distributed to other 

people,” he said. 

He disclosed that the wheelchairs are 

being distributed all over the country, 

saying, “I urge philanthropists in our 

society to do whatever they could do 

for the indigenes, as a means of 

showing gratitude and paying our own 

tithe to God. We are here with three 

wheel chairs to be distributed. It is 

going on in all the states of the 

federation. We look to the town for 

support in the protection of lives of 

corps members. 

However, Attah used the occasion to 

inform the people that another 

orientation camp will begin on May 15, 

2017, urging the intending corpers to 

get prepared and do all that is necessary 

for the orientation. The beneficiaries of 

the wheelchairs are: Shittu Toibat, 

Azeez Rafiu, Jimoh Lukman, the trio 

being indigenes of Ede town. 

Speaking, Oba Lawal expressed 

gratitude to the NYSC for choosing Ede 

as the first place, to begin the gesture, 

assuring that the town would continue 

to support the scheme. 

“We received the gesture with joy and 

happiness. When the news got to me 

that NYSC was coming to donate wheel 

chair to the less privileged, I was so 

happy. That’s why we tried to gather 

the three people out of many that we 

have in our community, at least to 

benefit from the gesture of NYSC. We 

are very grateful and the community is 

very happy. 

“If those that are well to do within the 

community can just emulate the gesture 

of NYSC, it would have been better, 

because we have so many people like 

these less privilege among us within 

the community that can be helped. With 

the wheel chair now, they can be able 

to move from one point to another, even 

instead of begging around, they can be 

using this one as movement that will 

assist them on earning their day-to-day 

living and they will be comfortable. 

“So, we want to enjoin those people 

that are well to do within our community 

to please emulate this gesture and give 

assistance to the less privileged so that 

our community will be better. We extend 

our appreciation to the NYSC 

community for deeming it fit to start the 

programme in Ede. We are assuring 

you of our continuous support." 

Speaking on behalf of the 

beneficiaries, Lukman, appreciated the 

gestures for the less privileged, praying 

that NYSC would not lose any of its 

corps in the town.



OYO STATE 

By Ola Ajayi 

THOUGH, the Independent 

Electoral Commission is yet 

to formally declare open the 

political campaign for the 2019 

general elections, its echoes 

have begun to reverbrate in Oyo 

State, the South West political 

headquarters as the Minister of 

Communication, Mr. Adebayo 

Shittu, has shown his intention 

to succeed Governor Abiola 

Ajimobi. 

Shittu is as old as Metusellah 

in Oyo politics. Apart from being 

one-time lawmaker in the State 

House of Assembly, he has tested 

his popularity in the previous 

political era vying for the 

governorship seat but he had 

failed in his several attempts to 

occupy the Agodi Government 

House. Probably to register 

himself in the minds of the 

people in the state, just last week, 

he declared openly during a 

private television interview that 

he would try his luck again. 

He is trying to endear himself 

to the people of the state, 

especially his party members in 

the All Progressives Congress 

using the raging internal 

wrangling over some 

appointments that Governor 

Abiola Ajimobi made. He said 

unless the national secretariat of 

the party intervene in the ongoing 

controversy that trailed the 

proposed local government 

election, appointments of 

caretaker chairmen in the state, 

“bubble may burst”. Shittu 

described the decision of 

Governor Ajimobi to hand-pick 

candidates for the local 

government polls as very 

undemocratic and an ill-wind 

that would blow nobody good. 

Oyo APC denies 

intra-party crisis 

Despite an internal crisis in the 

All Progressives Congress in Oyo 

State, the state leadership of the 

party has said it would be 

erroneous to say the party was 

engrossed in a crisis. This came 

just as the party faulted some 

comments credited to the 

Minister of Communication, Mr 

Adebayo Shittu that Governor 

Abiola Ajimobi wanted to hijack 

the party by making the state 

executives irrelevant. This was 

disclosed yesterday in a 

statement by its Director of 

Publicity and Strategy, Olawale 

Sadare. 

According to him, if anybody 

thinks all is not well with the 

state chapter of the APC, such a 

pessimist is just acting on a 

fallacious assumption. It will be 

recalled that members of the party 

from 10 local government 

councils in Oke Ogun stormed 

Ibadan to protest the recent 

appointment of caretaker 

chairmen. 

But the party in the statement 

stated, “as much as we would 

have desired to see the 

opposition in other political 

parties as formidable enough to 

play the role expected of them, 

their camps become more 

Minister capitalises on Oyo APC 

crisis to launch guber campaign 

•Party denies intra-party crisis 

vulnerable to emptiness simply 

because more discerning people 

are realizing that the APC could 

deliver the goods regardless of 

the odds. The daily influx of 

influential members of the 

opposition into our great party is 

a pointer to the fact that the APC 

is waxing stronger in the state. 

“The near bedlam recorded in 

our party recently in the build-up 

to the suspended local 

government council election was 

expected of the party to beat that 

is populated by a large chunk of 

potential holders of political offices 

at the third tier level. The ensuing 

agitations and healthy politicking, 

therefore, should not be 

misconstrued for internal unrest 

or crisis of confidence. 

“Moreover, the recent 

composition and inauguration of 

Council of Elders of the party 

became necessary to further 

solidify the mobilization and crisis 

management machinery of the 

party at the grassroots. The 

council, though not a creation of 

the APC Constitution, is purely an 

advisory body which was the 

initiative of both the governor and 

the Chief Akin Oke-led state 

executive committee. The council 

is not meant to replace the party 

executive committee at any level 

as being rumored in some 

quarters.” 

In the same vein, the APC has 

moved to clear the air on some 

issues allegedly raised by the 

Minister of Communications, Barr. 

Adebayo Shittu, on an interview 

he granted an Ibadan based 

private broadcast station last 

weekend urging him (Shittu) to 

always seek clarification from the 

party leadership before going to 

press. 

The statement further read: 

“Obviously, there are certain halftruths 

and an outright case of 

misinformation in some 

statements credited to the 

Minister during the course of the 

interview. We could only urge him 

to explore the opportunity of his 

unhindered access to the 

governor to iron out issues of 

misrepresentation and wrong 

If anybody thinks all 

is not well with the 

state chapter of the 

APC, such pessimist 

is just acting on a 

fallacious 

assumption 

perception while he also needs 

to seek clarification from the party 

on any issue of concern to him 

before going public or to the press 

as the case may be.” 

The minister’s grouse 

According to him, the 

overriding interest is to save the 

party from the alleged precipice 

the governor is gradually pushing 

the party towards, that propelled 

him to speak out in public. “It is a 

matter that we all must open our 

eyes because you only need to be 

sleeping to allow injustice and 

oppression to be sustained in a 

sane society. Before 2019 election 

comes, I want to believe that the 

target for all of these ‘bulldozing’ 

will be to replicate this in the 

delegate election which I, assure 

you, will never happen. We must 

continue to be forward looking; 

we must continue to live by the 

ideals of the founding fathers of 

our party about democracy, 

fairness and all inclusiveness 

rather than just hand-picking”, he 

said. 

He further fumed: “We don’t 

want the APC to go the way PDP 

has gone. It is unfortunate I have 

to tell you this. The day people 

went to protest at the governor’s 

office, thugs were sent to pester 

people with stones and other 

dangerous objects. Journalists 

were there. Is that the kind of 

democracy we are practising?. 

Some, who were coming, were 

waylaid at Moniya. Even in my 

own Saki town yesterday, after the 

swearing in of new caretaker 

chairmen, their thugs descended 

on people. In fact, the wife of the 

APC chairman in Saki West is still 

at the hospital. Why? Because his 

husband did not support the 

caretaker arrangement all sent by 

the new chairman. This is 

happening in many other towns. 

Impunity must stop.” 

The minister continued: 

“Refusing to organise primary 

election that would usher in 

elected candidates for the local 

government election is a 

disservice to our party and a 

disservice to the constitution of the 

country which stipulates that 

there should be democratically 

elected leaders at the local 

government level. The governor 

who is my brother has been in the 

saddle for the past six years, it is 

unfortunate that he has not 

organised local government 

elections.” 

Talking about the division 

within the party, Shittu went on: 

“From our investigations, 

SENACO(Ajimobi’s group) was 

formed to snub late Lamidi 

Adesina. Some leaders of APC 

came to Ibadan to protest. These 

were not CPC members but these 

are APC members who had been 

in the party for a long time. You 

find out that most people who 

claim to be progressives are not 

following the antecedents of our 

great leader and mentor, late 

Chief Obafemi Awolowo. 

Regarding the LG polls, some 

APC candidates had coughed out 

huge sums of money to collect 

APC forms.” 

“The appointment of zonal 

leaders or elders’ advisory council 

for APC in Oyo State is 

unconstitutional and it is a clear 

attempt to make the state 

executive of the party irrelevant. 

It is so clear . There is no position 

of zonal leaders in our 

constitution. We must challenge 

that because it will be used with 

sinister motives. 

Supreme 

structure 

The supreme structure for the 

state is the state executive 

representing various parts of the 

state. The interest of our people 

must be of utmost priority. What 

is the motivation for that? Where 

do you put all our leaders who 

worked tirelessly for our success 

in 2015 election? Why do you 

want to make them irrelevant to 

people you think will do your 

bidding. I don’t think it is patriotic. 

“We have the state executive 

of the party recognised by the 

constitution. With due respect to 

Mr. Governor, he does not have 

a role to play than managing the 

state executive of the party. 

Symbolically, he is supposed to 

be the leader because he is a 

product of the activities and 

sacrifices of the state executive 

which harnessed all the resources 

to ensure that he wins. It is not 

possible for one person to win; it 

is our collective efforts. 

“But what we are saying is that 

the governor must respect the 

wishes of the state executive, 

particularly if what they are doing 

is in consonance with the 

constitution of our party and that 

of Nigeria. At the national level, 

there has been no clash between 

the president and the national 

executive council of our party. 

Today, the state executive of the 

party is frustrated. Everybody is 

frustrated! So, what we should be 

asking is that why are we in this 

horrible situation? Why must our 

governor alienate a certain 

segment of the party apparatus 

for what he is doing?" he asked.


Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

Yuri Gagarin: The man who 

led the way 

ASPEC of humanity, mainly in 

Aviation, on April 12, marked 

the gagantuan achivement of a 

“shortish” man, Yuri Alekseyevich 

Gagarin. It was the fifty sixth 

anniversary of his flight into space 

which no human had achieved 

before, and his return from outside 

the earth, which no living being had 

ever accomplished. Before him, only 

the human spirit was believed to 

have left the earth. Gagarin’s 

historical feat was a crowning of 

humanity’s quest for knowledge and 

to master the world. 

Some in ancient times believed that 

the world was flat. Long after the fact 

that the earth is spherical had gained 

ground, it was believed that it is 

stationary and that the sun, moon 

and all other planets evolve round it 

(Geocentrism). Nicolaus 

Corpernicus, a Polish 

mathematician and astrologist 

challenged this, and evolved the 

theory that the reverse is the case 

(Heliocentrism). 

When Italian scientist, Galileo 

Galilea did more work on the 

Corpenicus Theory that the earth and 

all other planets revolve round the 

sun, he was told that his theory 

contradicted the Holy Bible which 

states in Psalm 93:1, 96:10, Psalm 

104:5, 1 Chronicles 16:30 and 

Ecclesiastes 1:5 that the earth does 

not move and can never be moved; 

that rather, it is the sun that moves; 

rising, setting and returning to its 

place. 

Galileo had responded that he was 

talking about science not the Bible 

which dealt with spiritual matters. 

He was dragged before an 

Inquisition in February 1616, found 

guilty and ordered to recant and 

never again teach or write what is 

heretical. He recanted, was saved 

the death penalty but placed under 

house arrest for life. 

Three hundred and forty five years 

later, and for the first time, a human 

went into space and even orbited the 

earth itself! The feat was a positive 

fallout of the Cold War. As part of 

Cold War rivalry, after the Union of 

Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, 

launched Sputnik 1 - the first 

manmade satellite in 1957 - the 

Americans decided to surpass the 

Soviets by sending a human into 

space by 1961. That itself was a 

challenge to the Soviets who on April 

12, 1961 sent Gagarin into space. It 

was a dangerous mission because 

while the spacecraft, Vostok 1, could 

take off, there was not yet developed, 

a brake system that could slow the 

craft and land it safely. The only 

alternative was for Gagarin to eject 

and parachute to the ground. 

The son of farm workers, the then 

27-year old was determined to move 

human knowledge and experience 

forward. He was to say: “Nothing 

will stop us. The road to the stars is 

steep and dangerous. But we're not 

afraid ... Space flights can't be 

stopped. This isn't the work of one 

The United 

Nations later set 

aside April 12 as 

the International 

Day of Human 

Space Flight; 

Gagarin became a 

symbol of the 

indomitable 

human spirit 

man or even a group of men. It is a 

historical process which mankind is 

carrying out in accordance with the 

natural laws of human 

development.” 

When the engineers told him 

everything was ready, Gagarin’s last 

words on earth were: “Let’s go!” 

When he got into space, his craft 

orbited the earth in 108 minutes 

attaining a maximum height of 327 

kilometres. Taking notes and 

speaking into the microphones, 

Gagarin described the earth from 

space: “I saw for the first time the 

earth's shape. I could easily see the 

shores of continents, islands, great 

rivers, folds of the terrain, large 

bodies of water. The horizon is dark 

blue, smoothly turning to black... the 

feelings which filled me I can express 

with one word-joy.” 

After the orbit, when the engines 

got over the African continent, they 

fired him back to earth. At 20,000 

feet, he ejected and began 

parachuting. He landed in the fields 

of USSR where he startled a woman 

and her daughter. He called out “I 

am a friend, comrades, a friend!” 

They were his first words when he 

returned to earth. To this the woman 

replied: ‘Can it be that you have come 

from outer space?” He replied the 

dazed woman: “As a matter of fact, I 

have!” 

Gagarin was to describe this 

encounter: “When they saw me in my 

space suit and the parachute 

dragging alongside as I walked, they 

started to back away in fear. I told 

them, don't be afraid, I am a Soviet 

like you, who has descended from 

space and I must find a telephone to 

call Moscow!” 

A startled world welcomed the 

news. The reaction of America was 

to scramble Alan Shepard into space 

on May 5, 1961 in the “Freedom 7.” 

The mission lasted fifteen minutes. 

Thus he became the first American, 

and second human to go to space. 

Twenty days later, President John. F. 

Kennedy went before a Joint Session 

of the American Congress and 

declared: “I believe that this nation 

should commit itself to achieving the 

goal, before this decade is out, of 

landing a man on the moon and 

returning him safely to earth.” 

The world celebrated Gagarin and 

even the countries who saw his feat 

as a good propaganda for the Soviet 

Union, gave him a hero’s welcome. 

There were attempts to challenge 

Gagarin’s feat; the argument was 

that he had parachuted and not 

landed back on earth in the 

spacecraft. But the fact that he had 

travelled into space, orbited the 

earth and returned alive, were 

indisputable; the manner of his return 

were merely a matter of details. 

Like a man who had been to The 

Land of the Dead and returned, 

Gagarin said: “To be the first to enter 

the cosmos, to engage, singlehanded, 

in an unprecedented duel 

with nature-could one dream of 

anything more?” As part of the Space 

race, America on February 20, 1962 

sent John Glen to space; he orbited 

the earth three times. That was ten 

clear months after Gagarin. 

It is not unusual for matchless 

warriors to die on the battlefield. So 

was it with Gagarin. The Soviets took 

him off flights; he was the symbol of 

their space superiority and did all 

they could to protect him. He was 

promoted a Colonel, was a Deputy 

in the Soviet and on February 17, 

1968, successfully defended his 

aerospace engineering thesis on 

space plane aerodynamics 

configuration. 

Tragically on March 27, 1968, 

Gagarin and a co-pilot crashed in a 

MiG jet while on a routine training 

mission. The Soviets could not 

control their emotion, and the world 

wept for the man who led the it into 

space. He left behind two daughters; 

Yalena, who is an Art Historian, and 

Galina, a professor of economics at 

the Plekhanov Russian University of 

Economics. 

The United Nations later set aside 

April 12 as the International Day of 

Human Space Flight. Gagarin 

became a symbol of the indomitable 

human spirit. 

By Sufuyan Ojeifo 

OUR nation is now a big theatre where 

farcical actions and events take place 

at a pulsating pace. And, keeping up with the 

tempo of the outlandish dramas that have 

grotesquely assailed our sensibilities has not 

been easy. The totality of the bizarre storyline 

centres on the recoveries by the Economic and 

Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of 

monies believed to be part of our looted 

commonwealth by some former and, possibly, 

serving government officials. 

The EFCC has, in dramatic fashions, been 

recovering huge sums of monies from unusual 

places, far away from the strong rooms or 

vaults of banking institutions, purportedly on 

the prompting of some whistle blowers. So 

dramatic have the locations- airport, market, 

isolated air-conditioned bungalow- and the 

magnitudes of the discoveries been that they 

have elicited equally dramatic reactions from 

different quarters. 

The latest discovery of $43.4 million, N23.3 

million and 27,800 pounds in a flat at the 

Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos, has 

unarguably been the biggest of such discoveries 

by the EFCC. How so much money could be 

kept outside the banking system and in a flat 

whose ownership has generated controversy 

speaks to the extreme degeneracy that has 

afflicted us as a nation. 

One had thought that, by now, having had 

the grace to recover from the shock find and to 

realise that we were not dreaming after all, the 

federal government should have quickly 

cleared the mystery surrounding the ownership 

of the money through the instrumentality and 

superintendence of the superior intelligence 

of its security and investigative agencies. 

Indeed, it was enough that the sheer 

magnitude of the discovery almost benumbed 

our sense of sanity and questioned our 

humanism; but to now attempt to throw 

mindless shenanigans into the mix in order to 

shield the real owner(s) of the monies in 

question is to portray Nigerians as fools. Even 

if we do not know how our commonwealth is 

being managed, at least, we should be fully 

briefed about this glaring and unconscionable 

diversion of huge public fund hidden in the 

Osborne Towers flat. 

The undisguised attempts by the federal 

government and its agencies, particularly the 

National Intelligence Agency, NIA, to befuddle 

the Nigerian people over the ownership of the 

Why was it after the 

EFCC 's discovery that 

the NIA DG was 

moving round to brief 

those he should have 

briefed before the 

bust? 

Our moments of angst 

money should be condemned and rejected by 

well-meaning Nigerians and the international 

community. NIA has claimed ownership of 

the money. But Nigerians have justifiably 

doubted the agency’s claim. 

It is just not enough to put up such claim. 

There must be incontrovertible evidence to 

prove it; otherwise, the NIA would be deemed 

to be playing a fast one, in the circumstance, 

for reasons best known to it. Some people 

have even insinuated that the NIA might have 

resorted to this fatal gambit in order to shield 

the real owner(s) of the monies. 

And Nigerians are reasonably anguished. 

They are aware that, more than ever, they are 

being taken for granted by a government 

which is a custodian of their sacred mandate. 

Governance is no longer about the people, but 

about the few privileged elite who have taken 

advantage of public office to plunder our 

commonwealth. The owner(s) of the monies 

is (are) believed to enjoy the sympathy and, 

possibly, the protection of government. 

The NIA claim of ownership is finding it 

difficult to fly. Or, is the NIA trying to 

appropriate the monies in the hope that nobody 

would be courageous enough to come forward 

to claim ownership? Or, is it acting to protect 

the real owner(s) for some pecuniary interests? 

Sincerely, I am not taken in by the NIA claim. 

The agency has a well-fortified office in Abuja 

to warehouse its funds for covert operations. 

It thus beggars belief that the agency would 

choose to use an unguarded flat as a safe house 

for such a humongous amount. Nigerians have 

asked good questions since the bizarre 

discovery was made: who is or are the owner(s) 

of the flat? That can be ascertained. If the 

owner(s) of the flat leased it out, then to whom 

did the owner(s) lease it? That also can be 

verified. The relevant investigative agencies 

can follow the trail. In between the leaser(s) 

and the lessee(s), the mystery over ownership 

can be unraveled. 

Dramatically, the governor of Rivers State, 

Nyesom Wike, has come out to say that the 

money belongs to Rivers State. The plank on 

which he has grounded his claim is 

understandable. Amid the controversy over 

the ownership of the flat where the monies were 

found, a series of speculative claims have been 

made, which linked some individuals with the 

flat. Former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi 

Amaechi, who is the incumbent minister of 

transportation, was one of those who have 

suffered the misfortune of being mentioned. 

He has denied ownership of the flat. 

The latest media reports, as of press time, 

were tending in the direction of the existence 

of some documents - deed of assignment, et al 

- that point in the direction of NIA ownership. 

Still speculative as the reports might be, I just 

hope it is not an attempt to perfect the agency’s 

gambit to appropriate the monies, the existence 

of which it did not deem fit, before the discovery, 

to brief either President Muhammadu Buhari 

or the National Security Adviser, NSA, about. 

Why was it after the EFCC's discovery that the 

NIA DG was moving round to brief those he 

should have briefed before the bust? 

Indeed, the entire development has been 

deliberately made convoluted; and, an 

otherwise simple matter of pointing a finger 

of guilt to the culprit of the flat 7b Osborne 

Towers humongous cashgate, has been made 

much more complicated by the insincerity of 

government and some of its agencies. This is 

very depressing. President Buhari should feel 

very embarrassed that this is happening under 

his watch. Instead of seizing the big stage to 

flog the issue expeditiously, his government is 

dancing round the issue, perhaps, to protect 

some person(s). 

If the government is thus indicted, then its 

chicanery will not only blow up in its face, it 

will also make nonsense of its much-trumpeted 

anti-corruption crusade. Nigerians who voted 

for the administration on the platform of its 

potential capacity to fight corruption to the 

finish can as well begin to sing the 

administration’s Nunc Dimittis. Sadly, 

Nigeria’s international image will suffer a 

further collateral damage on account of this 

shocking infamy. 

However, I must commend the EFCC - 

whether it is seeking to impress the president 

or Nigerians – for the bust and its decision to 

go to a Federal High Court in Lagos to secure 

an order for temporary forfeiture of the monies 

to the federal government. This is salutary in 

that the court had given enough time for the 

owner(s) of the money to file an affidavit or a 

counter affidavit as the case maybe to prove 

claim of ownership. 

The federal government must suspend any 

other action(s) that may be prejudicial to the 

court action. Whoever is claiming ownership 

of the monies should go to court to join issues 

with the EFCC on May 5; otherwise, the court 

should proceed to give an order for permanent 

forfeiture of the monies to the federal 

government. 

Mr. Ojeifo, a journalist wrote from Abuja. 

C 

M 

Y 

K


YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

GEMINI; Provided you don’t allow mid morning 

blues to get better off you will eventually live up to 

expectation at work. Take good care of your health, 

please. 

CANCER; Many of you may be tempted and give in 

to the urge to gamble either with love or other important 

issue to the detriment of your cause. Be practical. 

LEO; This is not the right time to take happenings 

along your career line for granted. Prepare for 

important domestic challenge. Keep your family 

secrets. 

VIRGO; You may over inflate your ego to the 

resentment of people that matter. Watch what you do 

with money before 12.31pm. Try to be more diplomatic. 

LIBRA; If care is not taken you would mislead others 

before 12.31pm while you are close to minor but costly 

mistakes from 12.31pm. Be wise with money. 

By Richard Eromosele 

IF we must suc 

ceed in life, two 

things are very important 

and they are: the 

beginning and the 

ending. 

Unfortunately, we 

are more concerned 

with beginning well 

L E I S U R E 

THOUGHT FOR TODAY 

The beginning and the end 

while making little or 

no plan for ending 

well.This is abnornal. 

Much as the beginning 

is important, the 

ending is much more 

important. 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 

Of what use is an 

athlete in a relay race 

being at the front at 

the beginning of a race 

only to come last at 

the end of the race? 

Life is like the relay 

race. And like the relay, 

the trophies of life 

belongs to those that 

ends well. 

Whatever you do, 

strive to end well.For 

it is better to have a 

bad beginning and 

end well, than to have 

a good beginning and 

end badly.Think about 

it. 

By Kola Fayemi 

SCORPIO; After initial confusion before 1pm you 

find your bearing and assert yourself but you will 

need to prepare to take care of oppositions that may 

come up suddenly. 

SAGITTARIUS; It is important you don’t allow 

friends mislead you before 12.31pm no matter how 

genuine their intention. Watch what you do with your 

health. Tomorrow is your best day. 

CAPRICORN; Take it easy along your career/ 

business line during the morning period so that costly 

mistakes will not make things difficult for. Take your 

social life seriously. 

AQUARIUS; What may look like a very good advice 

from younger members within your base of operation 

may eventually lead to avoidable trouble. 

PISCES; Miscalculation is possible before 12.31pm 

that is why you will need to be as practical as possible 

and refuse to take people for granted throughout. 

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Pretty Lunatic’ By Andy Akman 

ARIES; Yes it is good to take partnership related 

issue seriously but priority attention must be given to 

money. Watch what you tell others before 12.31pm. 

TAURUS; If you take your new ideas too seriously 

they would mislead you. But taken good advice from 

your influential friends can prove helpful. As the Moon 

fluctuates during AM period it is important you 

practical till after 12.31pm. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

Send your date e and place of birth th to the Astr 

trological 

Counselling, P.M.B 100 

007, 7, Apapa, Lagos 

What’s my sesitive part? 

Dear Joshua, 

I ma interested in your daily analysis in Vanguard 

Newspapers. The truth is your daily horoscope column 

always work for me and now I just cant do without 

reading my Star in your papers. 

My believe is since you can be as accurate as possible 

writing daily horoscope you are in a better position to 

analyse my health which is very important to me. I 

want to know which area(s) of my body should be taken 

more seriously. 

Ope-Oluwa, Kano 

Dear Ope-Oluwa, 

According to your natal horoscope you have gone 

above danger zones of your life health wise. But then 

what you will find here under will be of benefit. Thanks 

for your commendation 

Opposition between the Sun (an indicator of basic 

self hood) and difficult Saturn during your birth hour 

pointed to a very tough beginning in life but luckily for 

you both Spiritual Neptune in powerful Scorpio and 

steady Pluto in healthy Virgo were at positive angles 

to your natal Sun thus, your chances of surviving are 

more than the delicate ones. More so as your natal Sun 

and Moon are members of strongest Star signs health 

wise. 

Certainly Saturn must have brought you a few number 

of health related challenges raging from skin, bone, 

sometimes the stomach and importantly headache . 

Since you were able to survive infancy and middle age 

you have very good chances of living to a very old age. 

While the ailments stated here can easily be managed 

by yourself one important organ of your body that must 

be managed by medical expert is your HEART because 

of many placement in heart related Star sign. This is 

not to say you must have heart problem but here is an 

organ you in particular must take very seriously. Yes 

fever is common in Africa and today fear of STDs is the 

beginning of good health. STDs are mentioned here 

because of your natal planets is sexual Scorpio. Mind 

you nothing fatalistic here, but mere warnings. 

VIRGINIA 

HOME & ABROAD 

dadadekola@yahoo.com 

By Lawrence Akapa



Creek war: How we killed eight pirates, 

kidnappers in Bayelsa —Militant group 

By Emma Amaize 

Y ENAGOA—THE 

Niger Delta 

Revolutionary Council, 

NDRC, a militant group in 

the Niger Delta region, 

clashed with a gang of sea 

pirates and kidnappers at 

Azuzuama, Southern Ijaw 

Local Government Area, 

Bayelsa State, leaving 

eight leaders of the pirates, 

including the leader, 

“General Thunder,” dead. 

The group claimed that 

its strike force invaded the 

den of the sea robbery gang 

and engaged the members 

in a gun battle. 

Police Public Relations 

Officer, Bayelsa State 

Command, Asinam 

Butswsat, who was 

contacted by Vanguard 

over the development, 

yesterday, said on phone, 

that the police were not 

aware of the incident. 

Spokesperson of NDRC, 

W.O. I. Izon Ebi, who 

confirmed the shootout, 

said: “About 11 p.m., on 

Saturday, the gallant strike 

force of the NDRC gunned 

down 'General' Thunder 

and his criminal gang of 

sea pirates and kidnappers 

that abducted the kinsmen 

of PANDEF leader, HRM 

Alfred Diete Spiff. 

“NDRM stormed their 

hideout at Azuzuama and 

killed the eight-man gang 

that specialized in 

dehumanizing 

distinguished personalities 

of the region with their 

criminal activities. We are 

using this medium to warn 

all criminals in Southern 

Ijaw council and Bayelsa 

State at large to turn a new 

leaf, as ill-treatment and 

kidnapping of 

distinguished citizens of 

the state will not be 

accepted any more in 

•We’re not aware — Police 

Ijawland. There will be no 

hiding place for criminals,” 

he added. 

On why the NDRC 

invaded the den, he said, 

“We only stormed their 

hideout with the support of 

their drug supplier, 

popularly known as Italian 

Colombus. The only one we 

can identify is 'General' 

Thunder and the young 

man that was the secondin-command 

to Young 

Shall Grow that killed the 

policemen during Young 

Shall Grow's mother’s 

burial, who is presently in 

jail.” 

On the identities of the 

pirates that were killed, he 

said: “To be frank, we did 

not have the time to start 

identifying them as we had 

got our target, 'General' 

Thunder.” 

It was gathered that one 

Chief Eugene Alexander 

was abducted by the sea 

pirates on January 14, but 

when his brothers, 

Highness Ebiye William- 

Sinteh and Frank Charles- 

Sinteh went with the 

ransom demanded by the 

group on February 9, the 

gangsters collected the 

ransom and abducted the 

two brothers. 

Delta govt signs MoU with developer for 

N2bn ultra-modern trade fair complex 

DELTA 

State 


signed a Memorandum of 

Understanding, MoU, with 

the management of Fazsad 

Construction Company 

Limited, for the reconstruction 

and upgrade 

of the State Ultra-Modern 

Trade Fair and Exhibition 

Centre located at Osubi in 

Okpe Local Government 

Area of the state. 

The deal will cost the 

developers over N2 billion 

because of the uniqueness 

of the trade fair, the various 

facilities and quality 

materials to be deployed for 

the standard expected. 

A statement by Executive 

Assistant 

on 

PDP inaugurates Leaders Reconciliation, 

Voters Sensitization C'ttees 

By Innocent Onoja 

B OMADI—THE 

Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, Ward 1, in 

Bomadi Local Government 

Area of Delta State, has set 

up a Party Leaders 

Reconciliation Committee 

at a stakeholders meeting 

in Bomadi, with the aim of 

bringing contending 

leaders together in order to 

restructure the party in the 

ward, as voters registration 

exercise and the council 

poll in the state draws 

close. 

VISIT: From left: Assistant Controller of Prison, ACP Edward Joy; Executive 

Secretary/CEO, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, LSSTF, Dr. Razaq Balogun; 

Controller of Prison, Lagos, CP Tunde Ladipo and Deputy Controller of Prison, 

DCP Musili Onasanya, during a courtesy visit to LSSTF head office in Lagos, 

yesterday. 

A Voters Registration 

Committee was also 

inaugurated with the aim 

of sensitizing the people on 

the need to come out en 

masse for the registration 

exercise. 

The meeting, attended by 

party bigwigs in the ward 

at Bomadi town hall, was 

to build trust and unity 

within the ward, and most 

especially, among 

contending leaders. 

In his opening speech, 

the ward chairman, Mr 

Tanko Awipi, said that the 

essence of the meeting was 

to brainstorm on the way 

forward for the party in the 

ward, stressing that 

political leaders from the 

council’s headquarters, had 

every reason to speak in 

one voice as against the 

prevailing scenario. 

He expressed optimism 

that at the end of the 

meeting, all grey areas 

within the party structure 

would be addressed, as he 

pledged support for Gov 

Ifeanyi Okowa’s agenda of 

prosperity for all Deltans, 

adding “We also support 

his ambition for 2019.” 

Communication to the 

Governor of Delta State, Mr 

Fred Oghenesivbe, said 

that the project when 

completed will be one of 

best trade fair complexes in 

sub-Sahara Africa with inbuilt 

exhibition and multipurpose 

halls, toilets, large 

parking space, conference 

halls, banking hall, a 

standard hotel, well 

equipped health centre, 

police post, a post office, 

shops, anchor shops, 

cinema hall, offices, classy 

restaurants, entertainment 

spots, pavilions and other 

facilities. 

Speaking during the 

MoU signing ceremony on 

behalf of the state governor, 

Secretary to Delta State 

Government, Mr Ovie 

Agas, said that the trade fair 

project is the brain child of 

the Ifeanyi Okowa 

administration, consciously 

nurtured to turn Delta State 

to a commercial and 

prosperous economic hub, 

adding that when 

completed, the complex 

will provide jobs for over 

2,000 young graduates. 

Customs redeploys 48 

Comptrollers 

By Godfrey 

Bivbere 

THE 

Nigeria 

Customs Service, 

NSC, has approved the 

redeployment of 48 

Comptrollers in line with 

the ongoing reforms in the 

service. 

The redeployment which 

was approved by the 

Comptroller-General of 

Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, 

(retd), according to a 

statement by the Public 

Relations Officer, Joseph 

Attah, saw Comptroller 

Madugu, M.J from Sokoto/ 

Kebbi/Zamfara moved to 

Ogun Command, 

Comptroller Udo-aka, E.A., 

from Investigation moved to 

Oyo/Osun Command and 

Comptroller Isiyaku, K 

from Tariff and Trade, to 

Portharcourt 1, among 


Delta LGs charged to comply 

with financial rules 

By Festus Ahon 

ASABA—A two-day 

capacity building 

workshop for select political 

office holders from the 25 

local government areas in 

Delta State has ended in 

Asaba with a call for 

effective and efficient 

compliance to financial 

rules and policies in local 

g o v e r n m e n t 

administration. 

The state Commissioner, 

Directorate of Local 

A-Ibom residents commend 

NDDC on infrastructure devt 

By Dennis Udoma 

UYO—AKWA Ibom 

State residents 

have commended the 

Niger 

Delta 

Development 

Commission, NDDC, for 

the 

ongoing 

infrastructural 

development in the state, 

especially the 

rehabilitation of internal 

roads in the capital city, 

Uyo. 

They noted that 

majority of the roads 

hitherto impassable are 

The statement said that 

the “Comptroller-General’s 

Compliance team has 

been disbanded and a new 

team reconstituted. The 

new compliance team is 

divided into three. Team 

A for Western Axis, B for 

Northern axis and C for 

Eastern axis. 

“They are to complement 

the Federal Operations 

Units in order to vigorously 

crack down on smuggling 

activities nationwide with 

particular focus on the 

enforcement of nonimportation 

of rice and 

vehicles through the land 

borders. 

“The new CGC’s 

compliance team will be coordinated 

by Comptroller 

Azarema, A.A, who before 

now was the Comptroller 

Licence and Permit at the 

NCS HQ," the statement 

said 

Government Affairs, Mr 

Bright Edejehwro, at the 

event, stressed the need for 

accountability and probity 

in the public sector to 

address the present 

economic challenges in 

Nigeria. 

The workshop had in 

attendance, Chairmen, 

Vice Chairmen, 

Secretaries, Leaders, 

Deputy Leaders, Majority 

Leaders and Supervisory 

Councillors of the councils. 

now functional giving 

the people a new lease 

of life. 

Motor spare parts 

dealer on Nsentip 

Street, Mr Essien 

Essien, was full of 

praises for the Federal 

Government’s for 

establishing the NDDC, 

saying that, over the 

past 16 years, internal 

roads in the state had 

been in pitiable 

condition and thanked 

God for the commission 

which is rehabilitating 

them. 

Madam Sandra Oligie for burial 

THE remains of 

Madam Sandra 

Oligie, well known 

Benin business woman, 

who died at the age of 53 

after a brief illness, will 

be laid to rest on 

Saturday April 22 in 

Benin City, Edo State. 

Late Madam Oligie



Umahi orders arrest of contractor 

over shoddy road project in Ebonyi 

•Suspends supervising official for two months 

By Peter Okutu 

ABAKALIKI — 

GOVERNOR David 

Umahi of Ebonyi State, 

yesterday, ordered the 

arrest of a contractor 

handling Okposi- 

Umuoghara-Ebiaji Road in 

Ezza North Local 


state for executing a shoddy 

job as against government 

specifications after 

collecting N200 million 

mobilization fees. 

Umahi, who gave the 

order while inspecting the 

road at Okposi- 

Umuoghara, also directed 

that a Ministry of Works 

official, Solomon Eze, be 

suspended for two months 

for lack of proper 

supervision of the project. 

The governor, who was 

dissatisfied with the job, 

directed his aide de camp, 

ADC, to ensure that the two 

officials of the company 

present during the 

inspection were handed 

over to police for 

prosecution. 

Anambra to flush out quacks in 

alternative medicine 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu 

AWKA— THE Anambra 

State government said, 

yesterday, that it had put 

measures in place to flush 

out quacks among 

practitioners of alternative 

medicine in the state. 

State Director of Medical 

Services, Dr. Azubuike 

Nweje, who spoke at a 

workshop for members of 

National Complementary 

and Alternative Medical 

Association, NACAMA, in 

Awka, said the state 

Ministry of Health had 

listed hospitals practising 

alternative medicine, 

regretting that there were 

still some quacks 

masquerading as 

alternative medical 

practitioners in the state. 

Nweje said: “It is 

compulsory for all the 

alternative medical 

practitioners in the state to 

come to the Ministry of 

Health to be listed. It is also 

necessary that all 

practitioners must belong to 

the National Association of 

Alternative Medical 

Practitioners. This will help 

us to know the practitioners 

and also to be controlled by 

both the association and the 

ministry of health. 

“Let it also be 

categorically stated that the 

listing certificate issued by 

the ministry is only aimed 

He described the work of 

the contracting firm as very 

deceitful and fraudulent, 

warning that government 

would not take it lightly 

with any contractor that 

takes delight in cutting 

corners instead of 

concentrating on the project 

assigned to it for the interest 

of Ebonyi people. 

In a chat, Commissioner 

for Works and Transport, 

Fidelis Nweze, said the 

company did less than two 

kilometres of earthwork with 

poor drainage system. 

at noting all the alternative 

medical practitioners and 

the fact that registration and 

certification can only be 

done by the Medical and 

Dental Council of Nigeria, 

MDCN." 

Nweze said: “We frown so 

much at that act because 

the contractor is supposed 

to have achieved a 

minimum 40 per cent of 

that job. What we saw on 

ground was less than 10 per 

cent of the job.We are not 

happy about it. 

"On that note, we have 

suspended the engineer 

supervising the job from the 

ministry for two months for 

not briefing the ministry 

and government 

accordingly. We we will be 

approaching the court for 

justice.” 

BRIEFING: From left, Mr Anselem Igbo, Chief Exective Officer; Sakeenat Bakare, Chief Operating 

Officer; Ibiyemi Mezu; Head, Business Development and Wale Bello, Head,Technical Operations, all of 

Stanbic IBTC Insurance Brokers, at a media interactive forum organized by the company in Lagos, 

yesterday. 

Cleric warns staff, inmates 

against hard drugs in Onitsha 

prison 

By Nwabueze 

Okonkwo 

ONITSHA — THE 

Catholic Archbishop 

of Onitsha Ecclesiastical 

Province, His Grace, Most 

Rev. Valerian Okeke, 

yesterday warned staff 

and inmates of the 

Nigerian Prisons Service, 

NPS, Onitsha, Anambra 

State to stop smuggling 

Indian hemp and other 

substances to inmates in 

the prison custody. 

He said smuggling 

hemp or other substances 

into the prison for the 

inmates posed a great 

danger to the entire 

society. 

According to him, it 

would definitely have an 

adverse effect in the 

efforts by the government 

and individuals to reform 

the inmates in such a way 

that after serving their 

prison terms, they would 

come out as better citizens 

than they were before 

they went to jail. 

Archbishop Okeke who 

spoke against the 

backdrop of a complaint 

lodged to him by Deputy 

Comptroller of Prisons incharge 

of Onitsha 

Prisons, Ibrahim Usman, 

alleging that hard drugs 

usually found their way 

into the prison yard, 

frowned that if the trend 

continued, efforts by the 

government to reform the 

inmates would become a 

fruitless exercise. 

APGA 

chieftain 

promises to 

ensure 

Obiano’s 

re-election 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu 

AWKA— 

A 

CHIEFTAIN of All 

Progressives Grand 

Alliance, APGA, in Oyi 

Local Government Area of 

Anambra State, Chief John 

Ndu, has vowed to ensure 

that Governor Willie Obiano 

is re-elected in November 

18, 2017 governorship 

election. 

Ndu, who recently joined 

APGA, said Governor 

Obiano’s provision of 

security attracted investors 

like himself to the state to 

contribute their own quota 

to the state’s development. 

He said due to the 

conducive business 

environment created by the 

governor, his company 

would soon employ over 

500 youths to work in his 

various establishments, 

explaining that he had 

invested in the areas of 

livestock, cash crops, hotel 

and housing businesses, 

among others. 

Anambra community protests 

bad billings, outages by EEDC 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

N NEWI—UGWAGBA 

Obosi Layout 

community in Idemili 

North Local Government 

Area Anambra State, 

yesterday, stormed the 

major streets in the council 

area protesting against 

Enugu Electricity 

Distribution Company, 

EEDC, over alleged 

“fraudulent billing, lack of 

prepaid metres and non 

availability of light.” 

The community called for 

massive transfer of staff of 

EEDC working at 3, 

Obodoukwu Street, 

Maranatha Television 

Channel debuts 

THE management of 

Maranatha Television 

Channel, MTVC, has 

announced the debut of the 

channel’s live TV 

streaming service. 

Though faith-based, the 

television channel, 

according to the Chief 

Executive Officer, Mrs. Titi 

Fasuyi, is not restricted to 

only religious programmes, 

since it boasts of an array 

of quality programmes, 

spanning sports, 

entertainment, socials and 


According to her, the 

service, which is actively 

available on social media, 

such as YouTube, 

UStreaming, Facebook, 

Google and others, is 

targeted at subscribers, who 

prefer to explore other 

television channels besides 

the traditional terrestrial 

television and cable 

packages because of its cost 

efficiency." 

Explaining some of the 

qualities that the channel 

would be bringing to the 

table for its subscribers, the 

General Manager, Mr. Ola 

Oladipo, said the channel 

was being strategically 

positioned to become the 

foremost provider of live 

Ugwuagba Layout, Obosi 

for alleged fraudulent 

activities and hoarding of 

prepaid metres. 

The protesting residents 

blocked the Ezeiweka 

Road and other streets in 

the area chanting anti- 

EEDC management songs 

with various placards 

against the management, 

disrupting vehicular 

movement for over two 

hour. 

Addressing newsmen, 

President General of the 

community, Chief Osita 

Oji, said the residents were 

tired of EEDC's exorbitant 

bills and in the midst of no 

power supply, and 

demanded the installation 

of prepaid metres. 

Ex-Anambra House minority 

leader defects to APC 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

N NEWI—FORMER 

Minority Leader in 

1999 to 2003 Anambra 

State House of Assembly, 

Ifeanyi Ibegbu, yesterday, 

dumped the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, for 

All Progressives Congress, 

APC, with about 3,520 of his 

followers. 

In his speech Ibegbu 

described PDP as “a party 

where impunity thrives.” 

He also described the 

ruling All Progressives 

Grand Alliance, APGA, as 

“a cult” where only few 

members were enjoying 

while the majority were 

suffering and gnashing 

their teeth, saying that he 

was joining APC because 

that is where he found true 

democrats. 

He said: “My political 

mentor and sister, Linda 

Ikpeazu, who is 

representing Onitsha 

North and South Federal 

Constituency in the House 

of Representatives, 

approved my move and will 

soon join me in APC." 

streaming TV channel in 

Nigeria, through 

unparalleled expertise. 

Anambra gov 

aspirant loses 

mum 

Enyi Dibugwu Elizabeth 

Eziamaka Obiogbolu, 

mother of Dr Alex 

Obiogbolu, a 

governorship aspirant in 

November 18 Anambra 

State governorship 

election, is daed. 

Mama Eziamaka, who 

died February 15, 2017, 

was born in 1937 to the 

family of late Akunnia 

William Chukwuma 

Iweanya of Iyiawu village 

of Obankpa clan, Onitsha 

and Susana Mgbeke 

Mejuobi of Aluoha village, 

Uli in Ihiala Local 

Government Area. Burial 

arrangement will be 

announced later.



The Proprietor, Principal and students of Royal Star Comprehensive College, at the school’s Cultural 

Day held at its premises, Ijesha, Lagos. 

DINO MELAYE ASSASSINATION SAGA: Kogi 

ALGON boss debunks arrest report 

By Boluwaji 

Obahopo 

LOKOJA—ISAH Taufiq, 

the Chairman of the 

Association of Local 

Governments of Nigeria, 

ALGON, Kogi State 

chapter, who is also the 

Administrator of Ijumu 

Local Government Area, 

yesterday, described as 

“malicious and a tissue of 

lies,” reports that he had 

been arrested and whisked 

By Marie-Therese 

Nanlong 

JOS—THE President of 

the National Union of 

Local Government 

Employees, NULGE, 

Ibrahim Khaleel, yesterday, 

led members of the Union 

in Plateau State on a 

protest, campaigning for 

full autonomy for local 

governments. 

Khaleel, who lamented 

the difficulty members of his 

Union were going through, 

also used the opportunity 

to appeal to Governor 

Simon Lalong to address 

the issue of the pending 

“no-work no-pay” he 

inherited from his 

predecessor, which he 

away to Abuja over the 

purported assassination 

attempt on Senator Dino 

Melaye. 

The Administrator, who 

debunked the purported 

allegation through his 

media consultant, 

Abubakar Suleiman, 

insisted that the rumour 

was untrue. 

According to him, “the 

Administrator, as the chief 

security officer of the local 

government, had already 

promised to address. 

Khaleel commended 

Lalong for the judicious use 

of the Paris Club refund for 

the payment of local 

government staff salaries 

and pensions, saying such 

should be emulated by 

other governors. 

constituted a 10-man 

committee to investigate 

the assassination claim by 

Senator Dino Melaye even 

as the Commissioner of 

Police, Wilson Inalegwu, 

has also instituted a highpowered 

probe panel, 

which is headed by the 

Regent of Olujumu. 

“It is surprising to read 

that he has been arrested 

despite the fact that he 

personally briefed some 

journalists on his efforts to 

... as NULGE calls for autonomy in Jos 

Responding, Lalong 

assured that he would 

make good his promise on 

the matter, adding that the 

commendation would spur 

him towards providing a 

better welfare package to 

the state workforce. 

The protesters, who 

Katsina Command needs 3,030 

more policemen— Commissioner 

By Bashir Bello, 

with agency report 

THE 

Police 

Commissioner in 

Katsina State, Mr. Usman 

Abdullahi, yesterday, said 

the command has a 

shortfall of 3,030 personnel. 

This came as the 

Supervising Deputy 


DIG, North-West Zone, 

Maigari Dikko, yesterday, 

called for empowerment of 

policemen to be more 

effective in the discharge of 

their duties instead of 

Activists petition Buhari over gender imbalance 

WOMEN’S groups 

and activists have 

expressed concern about 

what they described as “the 

extremely low representation 

of women in appointments 

by government.” 

They contended that the 

“trend goes against the 

fundamental principles of 

equality and nondiscrimination 

affirmed by 

the Constitution and other 

international and regional 

human rights frameworks 

that Nigeria has signed.” 

In a letter to President 

Muhammadu Buhari, the 

activists cited the recent 

nomination of 27, Resident 

Electoral Commissioners, 

RECs, for the Independent 

National Electoral Commission, 

INEC, where only 

one female made the list. 

The letter was signed on 

behalf of over 30 rights 

groups by Dr. Abiola 

Akiyode-Afolabi of 

Women Advocates 

Research and 

Documentation Centre, 

WARDC; Saudatu 

Mahdi, Women’s Rights 

Advancement Protection 

Alternative, WRAPA; and 

Oby Nwankwo, National 

Coordinator, Affirmative 

Action Initiative for 

Women. 

The activists said: “Mr. 

President sir, we believe 

there are vacancies that 

government can still fill 

with women to achieve 

some level of equitable 

representation on the 

INEC Board.” 

unravel the veracity of the 

assassination claim by 

Senator Melaye at the 

NUJ Press Centre on 

Wednesday. 

“The story was 

sponsored by those who 

have been desperate to 

smear Mr. Taufiq’s good 

reputation. 

“The people of Kogi 

should disregard the 

unfounded story and 

journalists must confirm 

facts before going to press.” 

marched through major 

streets in Jos, visited the 

state House of Assembly, 

where the Speaker, Peter 

Azi, alongside other 

officials, promised to lobby 

his colleagues in the North 

Central Zone to adopt the 

stance of the Union. 

creating a peace corps. 

Abdullahi spoke in 

Katsina, when DIG Dikko, 

visited the command. 

His words: “The 

approved number of 

personnel for the command 

is 8,431. Its present 

strength is 5,401, with a 

shortfall of 3,030. We need 

additional personnel to 

cover the state effectively. 

“We are also calling for 

the establishment of 

additional Area Commands 

in Dutsin-ma and 

Malumfashi.” 

Speaking, DIG Dikko, 

who was also in Kebbi, 

Sokoto and Zamfara, said 

the states had peculiar 

challenges, noting that 

“instead of creating 

mushroom organisation 

such as Peace Corps, let 

them empower the Force 

with more funding so 

police can be more 

In Adamawa: 

Mixed reactions 

trail SGF's suspesion 

By Umar Yusuf 

Y OLA—THE 

suspension of 

Secretary to Government 

of the Federation, SGF, 

Babachir Lawal, has 

generated mixed 

reactions in Adamawa, 

his home state. 

Lawal is from 

Kwambala in Hong 

council of the state. 

The state's 

Commissioner for 

Information and Strategy, 

Mallam Ahmed Sajoh, 

yesterday, said the state 

government is not aware 

of the suspension. 

He noted that 

whenever the state 

government is briefed on 

the development, its 

stand will be made public. 

When Vanguard 

visited Kilba Joint, 

popularly known as 

Kwavi Hoba, in the heart 

of Jimeta, where Lawal’s 

kinsmen converge daily, 

everyone was in a sober 

mood, discussing the 

development. 

One of them, Pella 

SAN makes case for 

education sector funding 

By Demola 

Akinyemi 

I LORIN—THE 

leadership of Science 

Association of Nigeria, 

SAN, yesterday, called 

on the Federal 

Government to urgently 

concede more funds to 

education sector to boost 

science and research 

education in view of its 

ongoing efforts at 

revamping the nation’s 

economy. 

The National President 

of SAN, Professor Moji 

Bakare-Odunola, who 

disclosed this to 

newsmen in Ilorin, said: 

“There is urgent need for 


to increase the funds 

being allocated to 

Zubaima, said it is normal 

for government to 

investigate any allegation 

against anybody holding 

political position, to pave 

way for proper 

investigation. 

Haruna Isa, who hails 

from the same Kwambala 

village as Lawal, noted 

that he was disturbed 

when he heard the news. 

“I think this would serve 

as a lesson to others in line 

with the anti-corruption 

crusade of President 

Buhari,” Isa noted. 

Linus Makama, who is 

from same local 

government as Lawal, said 

something was wrong 

somewhere with members 

of the Presidential 

Initiative on the North- 

East, PINE. 

However, Abdulraham 

Musa, a Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, chieftain 

in the state, thanked God 

for Lawal’s suspension. 

His words: “The reason 

for thanking God is that by 

this, Mr. President’s anticorruption 

crusade is 

yielding positive results.” 

... as Gov Abubakar tasks 

PINE on devt programme 

By Suzan Edeh 

G OVERNOR 

Mohammed 

Abubakar of Bauchi State 

has urged the 

Presidential Initiative on 

the North-East Initiative 

to come up with 

sustainable development 

programmes by involving 

the major stakeholders in 

the planning, reconstruction, 

rehabilitating 

and economic recovery 

efforts of the areas 

devastated by Boko Haram 

insurgency. 

Governor Abubakar, in a 

release by his Press 

Secretary, Abubakar Al- 

Sadique, urged the 

committee to address the 

root causes of the 

insurgency, which he said 

were illiteracy, poverty and 

lack of economic 

empowerment. 

education in view of the 

importance of the sector to 

the socio-economic development 

of the country.” 

Burial 

MRS Selinah Egbusiri 

(nee Ekechukwu), 

90, is dead. Burial rites 

hold tomorrow at 

Community School field, 

Umuomumu Mbieri 

Mbaitoli LGA, Imo State, 

while thanksgiving service 

will be at God’s Kingdom 

Society Church, 215 

Bende Street, Port 

Harcourt, on Sunday.


SARKIN Kano, Sanusi 

Lamido Sanusi, is in the 

eye of the storm and it seems the 

only way he can overcome it is to 

remain controversial. 

I was at an event in Lagos in 

October where he was also 

present as special guest. In an 

extempore speech, he said he 

had decided to stay out of the 

headlines, especially after 

government officials responded 

with a sledgehammer to his 

criticism of the Central Bank’s 

monetary policy. 

Since then, however, he has 

made even more controversial 

headlines. It’s obvious that the 

only way he can keep his promise 

of silence is to break it, which is a Yari’s irresponsible comment or 

good thing. 

the deafening silence among the 

Insanity 

Northern elite that should know 

It would have been a pity if he better. 

had been silent on some matters More controversy 

over which his adversaries, led Sanusi’s response at the 

by Zamfara State Governor, Kaduna State Investment Summit 

Abdulaziz Yari, seem prepared to was a relief. In a season when 

incite public opinion against him. the EFCC was recovering billions 

In what was obviously a of “orphan” cash in private 

moment of insanity, Governor Yari homes, it was doubly 

had said that the outbreak of Type embarrassing and heartbreaking 

‘C’ meningitis in Zamfara, which to hear Yari speaking like a clown. 

was spreading to other parts of He should have been grateful 

the North and the country, was for Sanusi’s advice that rather 

God’s punishment for our sins. than blaming the victims – or 

Yari, the high priest of the god dragging God into it – he should 

of meningitis, offered no succour provide vaccines for them and 

to the families of the over 246 hide his face in shame. 

dead in his state nor did he But in what appears to be a 

acknowledge that the association bizarre twist of Galileo, Yari was 

of medical doctors warned him suggesting that the same God 

much earlier that insufficient who has endowed us with sense, 

vaccines would lead to needless reason, and intellect intended us 

loss of lives. 

to forgo their use. His response 

I don’t know which was worse: to Sanusi was a savage attack, 

SANUSI: Herdsman, Iconoclast or Pretender 

which completely ignored the 

issue and his own shameful role 

in the tragedy. Unfortunately for 

Sanusi, Yari’s response also came 

a week after his speech at the 

three-year anniversary of the 

missing Chibok girls poured 

more petrol on the fire lit by his 

views about the state of affairs in 

the North. 

The essential points in his 

speech were: •That the North 

East and North West of Nigeria 

are the poorest in the country 

•That even though 46 per cent 

of Nigerians are living below the 

poverty line, the figure, though 

bad in itself, masks the larger 

inequalities within the country 

•For example, the South West 

of Nigeria has less than 20 

percent of its population living 

below poverty as against 80 

percent in the North West or 76.8 

percent in the North East 

•Over 90 percent of the people 

in Yobe and 

Zamfara States are 

living below 

poverty, compared 

with 8.5 percent in 

Lagos and around 

11 percent in Osun 

and Anambra 

States 

The statistics of 

gender inequality 

within the regions, 

according to 

figures cited by 

Sanusi, are even 

starker, with much 

lower levels of 

school enrolment 

figures among 

girls, higher 

records of early/ 

forced marriages 

and maternal 

mortality in the 

North. 

The 

demons 

Instead of facing 

these demons, Yari 

and co have 

accused Sanusi of 

hypocrisy. They 

accused him, 

among other 

things, of 

squandering 

N3billion on a 

Rolls Royce and an 

extravagant 

lifestyle, when he 

could have used 

the same resources 

to improve the 

welfare of the 

people whose 

plight he is now 

complaining 

about. 

They could have 

Sanusi’s head on a platter, if they 

want. God knows there have been 

times I absolutely disagreed with 

him – like when as Governor of 

the Central Bank he criticised 

petrol subsidy yet the government 

paid out billions of naira in 

dubious claims to marketers. Or 

the shabby way the sale of 

Afribank, Spring Bank and Bank 

PHB was handled on his watch, 

not to mention the sexing up of 

bad loan accounts, which many 

commercial banks later dumped 

on AMCON. But calling Sanusi 

names will not change the facts. 

And those who made him Emir 

cannot say his eccentricity is a 

surprise. So, let’s deal with the 

issues. It’s a fact that poverty is 

widespread in the North, 

especially in the parts cited by 

Sanusi. But it was not always the 

case. 

Fact of the matter 

Under the first Development 

Plan between 1962 and 1968, for 

example, the North outperformed 

the South in a number of 

important areas. According to a 

The 

mismanagement of 

an estimated 

$600billion realised 

from the sale of oil 

since 1960 has 

affected the country 

root and branch, 

every part of it 

World Bank report, http:// 

documents.worldbank.org/ 

curated/en/903921468098980098/ 

Nigeria-development-plan-1962- 

1968, while the North budgeted 

£3.4m for Education out of a total 

expenses of £6.2m for other Social 

Overheads, such as Health, Town 

Planning, Co-operatives and 

Information, the Eastern region 

came second with £2.1m, while 

the West and Mid-West planned 

to spend £2.8m and £771,000 

respectively. 

It’s also remarkable that in 

contrast to the current trend of 

governors going cap-in-hand for 

monthly allocation in Abuja, the 

North had the highest savings of 

£4.7million (in 1966/67) from the 

sales of commodities by the 

Marketing Board to finance its 

budget. It even had the largest 

“external reserve” of £3.4million 

as against the West’s £1.6million. 

From FAO records, between 

1962 and 1968 the North 

produced five of the top ten export 

crops that sustained the country, 

with groundnut rivaling the 

West’s cocoa for the number one 

spot. Someone should have told 

Yari, too, that before the handouts 

in Abuja, there was a place called 

Gusau, an important 16th century 

city and a trading post, which in 

spite of decades of mineralstripping, 

remains the richest in 

gold deposits in the country even 

today. 

The North was not always like 

this: apart from its cultural genius, 

warmth and hospitality, it 

remained country’s food basket 

for years. Of course, there was 

healthy competition among the 

regions until the military 

abrogated the regional system 

and, to make matters worse, oil 

happened. The mismanagement 

of an estimated $600billion 

realised from the sale of oil since 

1960 has affected the country root 

and branch, every part of it. 

Mercenary elite 

For the North, it led to the rise 

of a mercenary elite. This elite 

abandoned the principles of the 

founding fathers, robbed the poor 

of their land and pride and 

exchanged them for strange 

franchises in Islam. 

Rapidly increasing population 

and pseudo-religious practices 

have only made matters worse. 

After years of decay – in sharp 

contrast to the prosperity of the 

mercenary elite – the chicken is 

coming home to roost. 

The few industries – the 

ginneries, the nuts, textiles and 

leather companies – weakened by 

years of neglect, could not 

withstand economic liberalisation 

and the influx of cheap Chinese 

products. The mercenary political 

elite didn’t care, as long as 

handouts from Abuja were lining 

their pockets. Yet, the fallout has 

been the rise of large armies of 

restive youths who, mostly 

without education and a future, 

have become easy recruits as 

political thugs and fodder for 

religious extremism. 

Sanusi and de Klerk 

We must thank Sanusi for 

coming out and calling a spade 

by its name. But behind the 

statistics the state of poverty is just 

as dire in the North as it is in any 

other part of the country today. 

Forget the few in the cities 

hiding billions of stolen cash in 

posh houses. Life, for millions of 

ordinary Nigerians at the edge 

of the city, is very, very miserable. 

And it’s the same from Kaura 

Namoda to Makoko and from 

Oloibiri to Ikeduru. 

Politicians, across board and 

parties lines, used to years of easy 

money from oil rent, have 

installed a system that hardly 

encourages accountability or 

rewards performance. 

Accountability is not a given; 

citizens must demand it, and if 

necessary, take it by force. 

Like the herdsman anxious to 

save the flock from danger, 

Sanusi’s comment was a wakeup 

call. If, however, like Frederik 

Willem de Klerk, he becomes the 

battering ram that deals the fatal 

blow on his privileged class, he 

will always find a place in our 

weary hearts, a much better place 

than his troubled throne. 

Ishiekwene is the MD/Editor- 

In-Chief of The Interview 

magazine and board member of 

the Global Editors Network.


PEMU 

I, formerly known and 

addressed as Miss 

Kesiena Eyewumi 

Pemu, now wish to be 

known and addressed 

as Mrs. Kesiena 

Eyewumi John-Awe. 

All former documents 

remain valid. General 

public please take note. 

ILOKA 



Iloka Edith Chioma, 

now wish to be known 

and addressed as Mrs. 

Okwor Edith Chioma. 




OBIALOR 


addressed as Mr. 

Obialor Chinemerem 

Sunday, now wish to 

be known and 


Obiako Sunday. All 

former documents 



EKENZE 



Faith Oluchi Ekenze, 



Faith Oluchi Duru. All 




AZODO 



Francisca Chinenye 

Azodo, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Francisca 

Chinenye Umeji. All 




ARIWODO 


addressed as Ariwodo 

Chijioke Kennedy, 


and addressed as 

Ezekiel Chijioke 

Kennedy. All former 

documents remain 

valid. General public 

please take note. 

OKERE 



Okere Peace Chinyere, 



Chidorom Peace 

Chinyere. All former 




AKE 



Marian Ake, now wish 

to be known and 

addressed as Mrs. 

Marian Chuks 

Deremo. All former 




LASISI 



Lasisi Olalekan, now 

wish to be known and 


Lasisi Moshood 

Olalekan. All former 




MOHAMMED 


addressed as Adamu 

Sanni Mohammed, 



Adamu Sani Salisu. All 




IWUAGWU 


addressed as Garnet 

Tochukwu Iwuagwu, 



Garnet Tochukwu 

Benson. All former 




NEZIANYA 


addressed as 

Nezianya Charity 

Nnonyelum, now wish 


addressed as Chikelu 

Charity Nnonyelum. 




ISAH 


addressed as Isah 

Abuh, now wish to be 


as Isiaka Abuh. All 




AKPEDE 



Akpede .A. Annabel, 


and address as Mrs 

Annabel Bright Gala. 


remain valid. The 

general public should 


AJEH 


addressed as Ebere 

Joyvirginia Israel Ajeh, 



Ahanonu Ebere 

Joyvirginia. All former 




UWAKWE 



U w a k w e 

Lucia Chinemerem, 


as 

Mrs. 

Ngumezi Lucia 

Chinemerem. All 




OCHULO 

Confrimation of Name 

This is to confirm that 

Ochulo Ezinne Ngozi and 

Ohulo Ezinne refer to one 

and same person and now 


addressed as Ochulo 

Ezinne Ngozi. All former 

documents remain valid. 

Diamond Bank and 

general public please take 

note. 

AKINRINLOLA 


addressed as 

Akinrinlola Abiodun 

Precious, now wish to 

be known as 

Akinrodolu Abiodun 

Precious. All former 




VINCENT 


addressed as Vincent 

Glory, now wish to be 

known and address as 

Glory Itoje. All former 


valid. The general 

public should please 

take note. 

MGBII 



Mgbii Juliet 

Chidimma, now wish to 

be known and 


Ohanekwu Juliet 

Chidimma. All former 




BUSARI 



Busari Adijat Yahaya, 


and address as Mrs 

Edna Adijat Obire. All 



general public should 


DUKOB 

OBU 


addressed as Dukobu 

Sinivie, now wish to be 


as Dukobu Sinivie 

Josephine. All former 




NGOZI 



Umeonuoha Lilian 

Ngozi, now wish to be 

known and address as 

Mrs Emeli Lilian 

Ngozi. All former 



public should please 

take note. 

ABAD 

ADANI 

ANI 


addressed as Abadani 

Amaowei and 

Abadani Amaowei 

Edson, now wish to be 


as Dick Abadani. All 


remain valid. Ecobank, 

Diamond bank, UBA 

and general public 


OREM 


addressed as Orem 

Francis Peter, now wish 


addressed as Michael 

Francis Peter. All 




GODSON 

Confrimation of Name 


Okparamuzie Godson .N. 

and Obisirike Godson 

Nwachukwu refer to one 

and same person, now 


addressed as Obisirike 

Okparamuzie Godson 

Nwachukwu. All former 


General public please take 

note. 

ONUKOGU 

OGU 


addressed as 

Onukogu, Amarachi 

Ijeoma, now wish to be 

known as Ihedioha, 

Amarchi Ijeoma. All 



public please take 

note. 

UGHWUBA 

I, formerly known as 

Miss Ughwuba Joy 

Ufuoma, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Mrs 

Umukoro Joy Ufuoma. 


remain valid, any 

authority it may 

concern and general 

public to take note. 

ALFRED 

Adition of Name 


addressed as Alfred 

Lucky, now wish to 

add Obareki to be 


as Alfred Lucky 

Obareki. All former 




JOSIAH 


addressed as Miss Josiah 

Evelyn, now wish to be 

known and addressed as 

Mrs Idjerheyovwohwo 

Evelyn. All former 

documents remains 

valid.NYSC, Delta State 

Polytechnic Ogwash-Uku 

and First Bank PLC. 

General public take note. 

OSAS 


addressed as Asuen 

Cynthia Osas, now 


addressed as Asuen 

Princess Cynthia. All 




TED 


addressed as Mrs. Ted 

Emu Tejiri Blessing, 


and addressed as Miss 

Oghenetejiri Blessing 

Akporayen. All former 




TUOYO 


addressed as Miss Tuoyo 

Roli Laura, now wish to be 

known and addressed as 

Mrs. Akpieyi Roli Tuoyo 

Laura. All former 


Benson Idahosa 

University, NYSC and 

general public please take 

note. 

OKPAK 

AKO 



Ujor Aghogho Okpako, 



Ekah Patience Ujor. All 




SHEDRACH 


addressed as Onyema 

Shedrach, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Okororie 

Paschal Onyema. All 




NWAZOMOH 



N w a z o m o h 

Sobechukwu Tonica, 



Akpede Sobechukwu 

Tonica. All former 



please take note.

38 —VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 

EFE 


addressed as Efe 

Happiness Afoke, now 


addressed as 

Obanyedo Happy. All 




OKOREFE 



Okorefe Priscilla 

Ikwesiri, now wish to 

be known and 


Onadia Priscilla 

Ikwesiri. All former 




OFODILE 



Ofodile Augustina 

Chisom, now wish to 

be known and 


Dunu Augustina 

Chisom. All former 




ONWUACHU 



Blessing Tony 

Onwuachu, now wish 



Blessing Jebolise 

Morka. All former 




EMMANUEL 



Emmanuel Ijeoma, 



Ijeoma Ojemudia. All 




ATTAH 



Victoria Christopher 

Attah, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Victoria Oyo 

Ephraim. All former 


valid. NYSC, 

University of Calabar 



ETAH 


addressed as Etah 

Akpovoke Sidney, 

Now wish to be known 


Ojigbo Akpovoki 

Sidney. All former 


valid.General public 


OGHOGHO 


addressed as 

Frederick Oghogho 

Ehigunmwema, now 


addressed as 

Frederick Glory 

Ehigunmwema. All 




TARE 


addressed as Christy 

Omentan, now wish to 

be known and 

addressed as Christy 

Omentan Tare. All 




OKAFOR 



Okafor Angela 

Chioma, now wish to 

be known and 


Nwadinuba Angela 

Chioma. All former 




OJAKOVO 



Ojakovo Token 

Rovieno, now wish to 

be Known and 

Addressed as Mrs 

Ayikimi Token Rovieno. 

All documents 

Carrying the Former 

Name remains Valid. 

General public take 

note. 

EZE 


addressed as Miss Eze 

Precious Onyedimma, 



Smart Precious 

Onyedimma. All 




STEPHEN 



Idara Emmanuel 

Stephen, now wish to 

be known and 


Idara Ekikere 

Ukanireh. All former 




CHANGE OF NAME 

ROBOR 



Robor Oghale 

Stephanie, now wish 



Jolly Oghale 

Stephanie. All former 




JUDITH 



Ighonaghohwo Elohor 

Judith, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Bozimo Igho 

Elohor Judith. All 




ELO 


addressed as Mrs. Elo 

Oke Erumagborie, 


and addressed as Miss 

Elo Oke Odogu. All 




note. 

AUDU 



Audu Kudirat Yefenwa, 



Kolawole Kudirat 

Yefenwa. All former 




EMENALOM OZUBBU ERHUE ORUERI 



Emenalom Kelechi 

Calista, now wish to be 


as Mrs. Azode Calista 

Kelechi. All former 





addressed as Ozubbu 

Dafe Tanu, now wish 


addressed as Dafe Joe 

Tanu. All former 




Confirmation of Name 

I, Erhue Aboh Lydia 

hereby confirm that the 

name Aboh Lydia as it 

appears on some of my 

documents refers to one 

and same me. I now wish 


addressed as Erhue Aboh 

Lydia. All former 



note. 


I, Michael Erhinyoja 

Orueri hereby confirm 

that the name Michael 

Orueri as it appears on 

some of my documents 

refers to one and same me. 

I now wish to be known 

and addressed as Michael 

Erhinyoja Orueri. All 

former documents remain 



OFFOR ADEGHE GBARA OSABUASE 



Offor Chinwendu 

Maryann, now wish to 

be known and 


Ibekwe Chinwendu 

Maryann. All former 






Adeghe Monica 

Omoyemwen, now 



Monica Omoyemwen 

Adeghe-Dioru. All 




note. 


I wish to state that on my 

FCMB saving account, 

my name was entered 

Gbara Charity John 

instead of Gbara Charity 

Burabari that appears on 

my documents. My 

correct name is Gbara 

Charity Burabari. All 





addressed Osabuase 

Oluwafemi Stephen, 

now which to add Eko 

as part of my name, to 

be known and 


Stephen Oluwafemi 

Osabuase–Eko. All 




OBASEKI KPENOSEN AGHRUDJE OBIAJULU 

I, formerly known, 

called and addressed 

as Mrs. Obaseki 

Ufuoma Mercy, now 

wish to be known, 


as Mrs. Atikpo 

Ufuoma Mercy. All 



general public and to 

whom it may concern 

to please take note. 

I, formerly known, 


as Kpenosen Roli 

Tessy, now wish to be 

known, called and 

addressed as Eden 

Tessy Roli. All former 



public and to whom it 

may concern to please 

take note. 



E g h r u d j e 

Oghenekevwe 

Delene, now wish to 

be known and 


O n y e n a n i a 

Oghenekevwe 

Delene. All former 






Augustina Ifeoma 

Obiajulu, now wish to 

be known and 


Enudi Augustina 

Ifeoma. All former 




OVO THOMAS HENRY ABEL 



Monica Ovo, now wish 



Monica Edith Isichei. 






Hope Aigbefue 

Thomas, now wish to 

be known and 


Hope Andrew 

Omenogor. All former 





addressed as Otunuya 

Henry, now wish to be 


as Otunuya Nnamdi 

Christian. All former 




Reconciliation of Name 


the names Ehighalua 

Abel and Ehighalua 

Oselemese Abel refer 

to one and the same 

person. All former 




OGWUELEKA ESOKUN OMEAHWE EMAMI 


addressed as Dr. 

(Miss) Amaka 

C h i n w e u d e 

Ogwueleka, now wish 


addressed as Dr 

(Mrs.) Amaka Uduak 

Udonkang. All former 


valid. Univeristy of 

Uyo, Embassies and 

general public please 

take note. 


addressed as Esokun 

Lucky Osayande, now 


addressed as 

Osayande Lucky. All 






Oghenetega Vallery 

Omeahwe, now wish 



Oghenetega Vallery 

Tom. All former 






Emami Patricia 

Eworitse, now wish to 

be known and 


Irone Patricia Eworitse. 


remain valid.General 


SEGINE NEYE NWOBODO BARNABAS IORKYOSU 



C h r i s t a b e l 

Oghenenyerhovwo 

Segine, now wish to be 


as Mrs Christabel 

Oghenenyerhovwo 

Omogra. All former 




Correction of Name 


addressed as Neye Dodo, 



Oritseneye Gabriel Edodo. 

My surname Edodo was 

wrongly spelt as Dodo 

and Oritseneye was 

simplified as Neye. All 


valid. Firstbank and 


note. 



Nwobodo Patience 

Ndidiamaka, now wish 



Ogbodo Patience 

Ndidiamaka. All 





addressed as Barnabas 

Pearl Nwankwo, now 


addressed as Barnabas 

Ekpere Nwankwo. All 






Iember Iorkyosu, now 



Iember Dagih. All 


remain valid. Benue 

State Planning 

Commission and the 

General Public please 

take note.


CHANGE OF NAME 

BAMAIYI 


addressed as Bamaiyi 

Zechariah, now wish 


addressed as 

Zechariah Sanadayi 

Bamaiyi. All former 


valid. General Public 


IBELEGBU 

I, formerly known 


Peace Udodirim 

Ibelegbu, now wish 


addressed as Peace 

Udodirim Kingsley- 

Eze. All former 




BAKP 

AKPA 

I,formerly known and 

addressed as Bakpa 

Edewor Wilson, now 

wish to be known as 

Amrevwodje Edewor 

Wilson. All former 




EZUGWU 


addressed as Queen 

Ezenwanyi Ezugwu, 


as Queen Ezenwanyi 

Ugwuanyi. All former 


valid. ESUT, NYSC 



NWEZE 


addressed as Nweze 

Chinenye Miriam, 


as Chinweze 

Chinenye Miriam. All 




note. 

EICHIE 


addressed as Eichie 

Rosemarry Ehi, now 


Odiwanor Rosemary 

Ehi (Mrs). All former 




ADEDIPE 

I, formerly known 


Adedipe Ramota 

Oluwamodupe, now 


addressed as 

Ogunbekun Rahmat 

Modupe. All former 


valid. General Public 


AKPEDAFE 

AFE 


Miss Akpedafe Faith, 



Mrs Akpomerha 

F a i t h 

Ogheneyerovwo. All 


remain valid, any 

authority it may 

concern and general 

public to take note. 

ONYEMENEM 



Onyemenem 

Nkemdilim, now 


Mrs. Olabode 

Nkemdilim. All 


remain valid. NYSC 



TEKNIKIO 


addressed as Salome 

Tekibau Teknikio, 


as Ighota Salome 

Teknikiobau. All 




note. 

OHIA 



the name Hertz Odira 

Ohia and Hertz Odira 

refer to one and same 

me. All former 




AKPUDJE 


Akpudje Lucky, now 


addressed as 

Akpudje Lucky 

Ufuoma. All former 


valid, any authority it 

may concern and 

general public to take 

note. 

SPACE FOR 

SALE 

Pope Francis and the pain of water 

scarcity in a thirsty world 

By Godknows Igali 

FOR nearly two thousand 

years, the Office of the 

Papacy has stood as some form 

of universal patriarchy of 

humanity much beyond its 

headship of the Roman 

Catholic Church. Beyond the 

boundaries of faith, creed, 

race, ethnicity, nationality, 

and language or sitting from 

France (for a short period), 

Rome or today, the micro citystate 

of the Vatican, the various 

Popes, now numbering 266 

men, have stood to defend and 

advance the most cherished of 

human values. Such efforts 

they made often facing the 

vilest manifestations of 

political leadership, coming 

from idolized emperors, 

brutal kings and princes, 

dictators, tyrants, oligarchs 

and the like, or even 

internecine church schism. 

It is recalled that Portugal 

and Spain, in the mid-1400s, 

decided to adventure to 

‘discover the rest of the world’ 

in a cut-throat manner. It was 

the proactive ruling of Pope 

Alexander (Papal Bulls of 

Demarcation), which divided 

the world into two that 

brought peace to the then two 

superpowers. Even the present 

world order, dating to the 

Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, 

Treaty of Paris in 1783 and 

Treaty of Versailles in 1919, 

heralding the emergence of 

the nation-state system in 

Europe and its spread to the 

rest of the world owes its 

nascence to the adroit 

diplomacy, facilitation, and 

direct involvement of some of 

the Popes of the time. 

It is against this backdrop 

of identity with prevailing 

societal challenges, that the 

decision of the incumbent, His 

Holiness, Pope Francis to take 

on the question of proper 

valorization of WATER for the 

whole gamut of human 

existence is not amiss. 

Coming from a personal 

background of Jesuit priests, 

who are given to works of 

charity and care for the most 

vulnerable of society, Pope 

Francis’ heartbeat towards the 

availability of this most 

essential of human needs to all 

and for its multifarious 

purposes is even, more 

understandable. Aside, he 

comes from Argentina, unlike 

all but one before him, all of 

who were only Europeans. As 

Archbishop and Cardinal in 

that South American country, 

he had seen poverty and not 

the least, the absence of Water 

in the ‘slums’ of Buenos Aires, 

Cordoba, Rosario, and other 

major cities of that football 

loving nation and perhaps its 

neighbours. 

Multifarious 

purposes 

This Pope’s views regarding 

this subject matter of Water 

were contained in an official 

‘Encyclical’ - the highest form 

of papal communication 

borne out of deepest 

devotional reflection. 

Dwelling pointedly on the 

global water emergency if one 

may term it so, Pope Francis 

in Encyclical Letter Laudito of 

24th May 2015, underlined, 

amongst other things, strong 

concern and need for 

correspondence of global 

action to ensure water 

availability, conservation, and 

sustainable use. The Pope 

adumbrated his conviction 

thus: “Access to safe drinkable 

water is a basic and universal 

human right... is essential to 

human survival and… is a 

condition for the exercise of 

other human rights”. 

‘El Papa” as the Pope is 

called in Spanish and Italian, 

rightly reminds, that all of 

humanity through timeless 

civilizations recognize and 

venerate the place of Water to 

the survival of life. In almost 

every human culture, 

instinctive the saying goes that 

‘Water is life’. Indeed, 

scientific enquiries bordering 

on the planetary system use 

the possibility of presence of 

minutest molecules of water 

to gauge past or present 

existence of life. The earth 

itself and even the human 

body are made up of 70% 

water. 

Perhaps, inspired by the 

Papal demarche in May 2015, 

the United Nations General 

Assembly on 15 December of 

same year, unanimously 

adopted a resolution 

affirming ‘Water as 

Fundamental Human Right’. 

In so doing, it was 

recognized that Water was the 

common denominator that 

was visible in all the erstwhile 

Eight Millennium 

Development Goals (MDGs). 

In the new Sustainable 

Development Goals (SDGs), 

which sets targets towards the 

year 2030 on various social 

issues, Goal Six is centred on 

Water access. Water straddles 

all things and is rightly 

speaking the mother of all. 

Similarly, at regional and 

national levels, there have 

been strong declaratory 

commitments, lamentations, 

promises and action plans 

underscoring at times more 

ambitious targets for dealing 

with Water scarcity. For 

example, it was African 

Ministers of Water 

Conference (AMCOW) which 

rose from its meeting in the 

Egyptian resort town of Sham 

Elizabeth Sheik in Egypt in 

2005, with a twenty-year plan 

to give all Africans Water by 

2025! Nigeria for one, like 

most countries, has one of the 

best National Water Policy for 

Urban, Small Towns and 

Rural Areas. There are also 

well articulated policies with 

regards to Sanitation, 

Hydropower Development, 

Hydrology and Watershed 

Management, Irrigation and 

Drainage and the like! 

The object of the Papal 

Encyclical and the subsequent 

actions, including the 

‘convening’ select world 

experts from different faiths 

and regions from March 21, 

2017 at the sacred St 

Augustine Hall in the Vatican, 

was therefore to unravel and 

interrogate more pellucidly, 

the paradoxical underplay 

and underpinnings 

surrounding Water. So why is 

portable water still very scarce 

all over? 

Such questions as to the 

amazing inequalities 

between rich and poor 

countries, e.g. between two 

children living respectively in 

Dr. Godknows Igali. 

Germany and Chad and even 

at national levels, say between 

families in Asokoro and 

Nyanya or a housewife in 

Ikoyi and another in Ajegunle. 

Why the carnage of a child 

accordingly to UNICEF, 

dying every ninety seconds 

around the world because of 

bad water? Why will some girl 

children in many places 

around this same world still 

trek for 5 kilometres every 

morning to fetch, often, 

contaminated water before 

going to school? Why are 

people living in littoral areas, 

like the Niger Delta of Nigeria 

or around the Orinoco River 

in equally oil rich Venezuela, 

amongst the worst hit by this 

palaver? 

Other questions are: Why is 

so much water being so poorly 

managed, wasted, 

unrecycled, allowed to be 

discharged to the ocean or 

suffer the highest forms of 

precipitation; which like the 

Lake Chad which in 50 years 

shrank from 26,000 square 

kilometres to the present 1,000 

square kilometres? What 

about the looming global 

wars over shared transboundary 

water as is the case 

between Ethiopia and Egypt 

or in the Middle East? Can 

the superabundant waters of 

the great oceans be more 

easily and readily available 

to ensure a more secured 

future for our children? And 

so on. 

Coming in the Holy Month 

of Lent, the specially 

celebrated Mass by the Pope 

at the hallowed St Peters 

Square on Wednesday, 22nd 

March, 2017, attended by 

men and women of diverse 

religions, provided the right 

spiritual ambience and 

impulse for the 

commencement of this Water 

Dialogue. Gladly, leading 

global think-tanks like the 

Club of Rome, Circle of Blue, 

the Pacific Institute and a 

cortege of corporate bodies 

seem poised not to leave the 

Pontiff alone to bear this pain. 

But more importantly, the 

Papal initiative on Water 

seems to be more directed at 

going beyond bended knees 

and high sounding 

hydrological grammars to 

practical, realizable solutions. 

In the same way, that the 

world dealt with the scourge 

of Smallpox and is relentless 

on other challenges as Cancer, 

HIV-AIDS, Malaria, the Pope 

seems more than committed 

to keep following up to ensure 

that sooner than later, 

mankind puts the elusiveness 

of a largely thirsty world 

behind all and fully enjoy one 

of the freest and most 

abundant of God’s benevolent 

provisions. 

Dr. Godknows Boladei Igali, 

a diplomat, administrator, and 

award-winning writer, just 

returned from the Vatican. 

Delta APC 

dismisses 

alleged plot 

to rig Warri 

bye-election 

•Slams PDP 

By Tare Youdeowei 

WARRI—THE acting 

secretary of Delta 

State All Proressives 

Congress, Mr. Leonard 

Obibi has dismissed 

insinuations that by 

Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, that the party is 

planning to rig the 

forthcoming House of 

Assembly bye election in 

the state. 

In a chat with newsmen 

in Warri, yesterday, the 

APC scribe said: “Our 

attention has been drawn 

to a newspaper publication 

on Wednesday, April 19, 

2017 in which the Director 

of Media and Publicity, Mr 

Jerry Eremosele, for the 

Campaign Organisation of 

Princess Shola Ogbemi- 

Daibo, the Accord Party 

candidate, alleged that APC 

plans to rig the Delta State 

House of Assembly byeelection 

for the Warri South 

LGA Constituency I, 

purporting that a meeting 

was held somewhere in 

Abuja where plans were 

‘made to mastermind the 

rigging of the aforementioned 

election’. 

“We would not have 

bothered to dignify such 

uncouth outburst with a 

response; however, we are 

compelled to react to such 

a baseless accusation to 

prevent this so-called 

‘Accord Party’ campaign 

from misleading the public. 

“First, it is important 

toenlighten the public that 

the political history of 

Princess Shola Ogbemi- 

Daibo has always been in 

the theatre of PDP, so we 

are aware that the Makarfi/ 

Okowa-led faction of PDP 

in Delta State chose to plant 

her under the Accord Party. 

The key actors of her 

campaign are PDP 

members, and their history 

is well known to us. It is 

therefore obvious that it is 

PDP wearing the coat of 

‘Accord Party’ and crying 

foul to court undeserved 

sympathy, while it is on 

record that rigging of 

elections in Delta State is 

an entrenched habit of the 

PDP. 

“On the contrary, APC is 

the harbinger of a new and 

peaceful order of things.We 

use this opportunity to notify 

the public of the unbridled 

desperation by PDP/Accord 

Party alliance which has 

already resulted in physical 

attacks by their paid agents 

on APC faithful and 

vehicles."

40— Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 

ASSOCIATION OF HEADS OF AFRICAN MARITIME ADMINISTRATION CONFERENCE (AAMA) 

Buhari lists hindrances to 

Africa’s maritime development 

•Advocates collaboration, synergy as solution 

Stories by Godfrey 

Bivbere 

P RESIDENT 

Muhammadu 

Buhari, yesterday, identified 

illegal fish poaching, marine 

pollution and piracy/ 

insecurity as major 

hindrances to the 

development of maritime 

industry in the continent, 

calling on maritime 

administrators to collaborate 

and synergize in order to 

tackle the problems. 

Buhari spoke at the 

opening ceremony of the 

third conference of the 

Association of African 

Maritime Administration, 

AAMA, in Abuja. The 

President who was 

represented by the Vice 

President, Prof. Yemi 

Osinbajo, stressed the need 

for the various maritime 

administrators to work at 

harnessing the human 

capacity to ensure 

employment for youths in the 

continent. 

He said, “Several other 

initiatives demonstrate the 

critical importance in food 

and environmental 

uncertainty and clearly the 

enormous untapped 

potentials for the making of 

a strong self reliant African 

economy are embedded in 

the blue economy. It is a task 

for you leaders of the sector 

to guide us on this crucial 

voyage. The challenges are 

many but not 

insurmountable. As things 

stand, African fishing 

grounds are being pillaged, 

its waters polluted, and 

piracy is heightening 

maritime insecurity and 

causing increases in the cost 

of maritime insurance and 

trade. At the same time, the 

regulatory and legal 

frameworks to properly 

manage maritime resources 

and overcome these 

challenges are still 

inadequate. Similarly, we 

are yet to fully develop the 

human and institutional 

capacities required to 

respond appropriately to 

these challenges. 

“The good news is that we 

are on the right path - 

collaborations and synergy. 

Our countries have to 

continue to develop the 

maritime sector, beginning 

from the national level, 

regional and sub regional 

level. Here in Nigeria, we 

have taken steps to tackle 

some of the challenges 

peculiar to us while still 

requiring regional and sub 

regional collaboration. We 

have stepped up 

engagement to address the 

disagreement, 

misunderstanding and 

contentious issues in the 

Niger Delta, which is a part 

of the Gulf of Guinea. We 

recently approved the 

maritime security 

architecture and 

infrastructure to be jointly 

coordinated by the Nigerian 

Maritime Administration and 

Safety Agency (NIMASA), 

the Ministry of Transport and 

the National Security 

Adviser’s Office. 

Also speaking at the event, 

Minister of Transportation, 

Mr. Rotimi Amaechi said 

through the hosting of the 

event Nigeria wishes to 

reinstate its commitment to 

continually contribute to the 

growth of the maritime sector 

on the continent of Africa and 

globally. 

His words: “The 

conference is not merely to 

appraise the maritime sector 

of Africa but to tackle the 

maritime problems being 

encountered in the continent. 

It is regrettable that despite 

Africa’s enormous maritime 

endowment, we remain 

susceptible to raft of 

challenges. These include 

insignificant share of cargo, 

low tonnage, piracy, sea 

robbery, undeclared and 

unregulated fishing, and 

environmental degradation; 

worse still there is no African 

flagged vessels taking 

cargoes and our waterways 

still wallow in servitude. The 

African human capacity is 

greatly underdeveloped, 

leaving us to rely on foreigners 

to drive our industry. There is 

also near total absence of 

trained coast-guard to monitor 

our maritime domain.” 

In his welcome speech, 

Director General of NIMASA, 

Dr. Dakuku Peterside, noted 

that Nigeria is hosting AAMA 

two years after African leaders, 

through the African Union 

subscribed to seven keys 

aspiration encapsulated in the 

agenda 2063 at Addis Ababa, 

Ethiopia in January 2015 and, 

three years after the adoption 

of Africa Integrated Maritime 

Strategy (AIMS) 2050 

concedes on Nigeria a special 

status. 

“Only recently, to further 

reinforce the critical role 

maritime can play in the 

development of Africa, the 

African Union (AU) special 

summit of Heads of 

Government on maritime 

security, safety and 

development in Lome, Togo, 

October 15, 2016 aligned with 

us. They adopted a Charter on 

Maritime Security, Safety and 

Development aimed at 

making Africa’s maritime 

space the key driver of the 

continents socio-economic 

development. 

“This document was 

endorsed by 43 out of 54 African 

nations. The AAMA inspired 

by African Union maritime 

transport charter provides us, 

as stakeholders in e maritime 

sector, a platform to give effect 

to the various charters adopted 

by our heads of government 

whether AIM 2050, Agenda 

2063 or Lome charter,” he 

stated. 

••Unveils new NIMASA logo 

M EANWHILE, 

President Buhari 

has unveiled the new logo 

of the Nigerian Maritime 

Administration and Safety 

Agency (NIMASA) at the 

opening of the thirdedition 

of AAMA in Abuja. 

Vice President, Prof. Yemi 

Osinbajo, who represented 

the president, commended 

the management of 

NIMASA for its effort at 

developing the maritime 

industry. He charged the 

NIMASA management to 

do more to fully exploit the 

huge potential in the industry, 

noting that the agency 

has been reformed to meet 

the challenges in the sector. 

According to him, 

NIMASA, which is the 

regulatory agency for shipping 

and maritime activities 

in Nigeria, is being reformed 

so that it can play its 

expected role as a facilitator 

of economic prosperity. 

He charged the NIMASA 

management to collaborate 

with other African maritime 

administrations to ensure that 

the continent fully taps the 

maritime opportunities. He 

said,“To this end, we need a 

coherent and collaborative 

response to the many challenges 

facing the continent’s 

maritime sector. This will 

require cooperation amongst 

our states, agencies and other 

players like the private sector. 

It will also entail focusing 

on human capacity development 

including 

strengthening the coast guard 

function to police our water 

ways. It means that governance 

issues and appropriate 

legislative measures must 

be put on the front burner 

alongside timely exchange of 

information.” 

AAMA CONFERENCE: From right, Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi; 

the Chief of Naval Staff, (CNS) Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas; and the Managing 

Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, (NPA) Ms Hadiza Bala Usman at the 

ongoing AAMA conference in Abuja. 

Transport Minister, Mr.Rotimi Amaechi, (left)with the Speaker of the House 

Representative Hon. Yakubu Dogara at the ongoing Association of African 

Maritime Administrators, (AAMA) conference in Abuja. 

Transport Minister, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, (middle) with speaker of the House of 

Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara (right) and the Director-General of the 

Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku 

Peterside at the ongoing AAMA conference in Abuja. 

PRESENTATION: The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), 

Hadiza Bala Usman (centre) presenting relief items to a mother at an IDP 

camp in Maiduguri, Borno State. To the MD’s left is the General Manager, 

Public Affairs of NPA, Elder Nduonofit Effiong E.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, 

APRIL 21, 2017—41 

NIA cash: Osinbajo meets 

Magu, DSS boss, IG 

Continues from Page 5 

not show up in the SGF 

building yesterday. 

Meanwhile, activities 

progressed as normal at the 

Office of the SGF yesterday 

after Wednesday’s 

presidential decision to 

suspend Lawal from office. 

Vanguard’s visit to the 

office at about 10 a.m. 

indicated that normal 

business of the day went 

on unhindered. An official 

who spoke off the record to 

our correspondent said 

following the presidential 

directive, the most senior 

Permanent Secretary in the 

OSGF had effectively taken 

control to ensure that there 

was no vacuum. 

“As it is now, the 

Permanent Secretary, 

Ecological Fund Office, 

Hajia Habiba Lawal is the 

most senior among them 

and she is in charge for the 

time being. So, life goes on 

as usual”, he said. 

Makarfi’s PDP 

dismisses 

Osinbajo panel 

as ruse, 

demands 

independent 

inquiry 

Also last night, the 

Senator Ahmed Makarfiled 

faction of the Peoples 

Democratic Party (PDP) 

yesterday demanded an 

independent enquiry into 

the Osborne cash haul as 

it dismissed the Vice- 

President Yemi Osinbajoled 

three-man investigative 

panel into the matter. 

The party spoke in 

reaction to the suspension 

of Mr. Babachir Lawal as 



Federation (SGF), and Ayo 

Oke, Director-General of 

the National Intelligence 

Agency (NIA). 

The faction in a statement 

issued by its National 

Publicity Secretary, Prince 

Dayo Adeyeye said the 

President ought to have 

done the right thing by 

arresting Lawal 

immediately. He said: 

“We are alarmed at the 

suspension of the SGF at a 

time that Nigerians and the 

international community 

are excitedly enjoying the 

theatre of the absurd 

playing out with the 

recovery of huge sums of 

money without owners,” 

he said. 

“Now the APC-led 


suddenly realised the 

corruption allegation 

levelled against the SGF; 

and instead of arresting 

and detaining him as the 

government has been 

doing to PDP members and 

other Nigerians, he was 

rather suspended and a 

committee set-up to 

investigate him. This is to 

say the least, double 

standard. 

“Some Nigerians have 

applauded the suspension 

as indicating a new commitment 

by President 

Buhari to fight the anticorruption 

war without fear 

or favour but we are 

constrained to point out 

that it is another ruse to 

deceive Nigerians and 

dress up the failed anticorruption 

war in a new 

garb.” 

“We are at a loss why the 

President would set up a 

panel comprising members 

of his cabinet to investigate 

other senior, very powerful 

members of the same 

executive,” he said. 

“Where is the 

transparency in that? Not 

that we doubt the integrity 

of the vice-president (for 

whom we have the utmost 

respect) and other panelists 

but it appears the matter is 

being settled within the 

government closet without 

the transparency, 

independence and 

impartiality necessary in a 

situation like this. Justice 

must not only be done, it 

must be seen to have been 

done. 

“This is especially 

important given the fact 

that we recently travelled 

this road when the 

President asked the 

Attorney-General to 

investigate the SGF (on this 

same matter) and Magu, 

the acting chairman of the 

EFCC. That investigation 

cleared the SGF of all 

wrong-doings in the grasscutting 

scandal as stated 

above. 

“It is amazing that the 

President who swiftly 

accepted the 

recommendations of the 

Attorney-General would 

now suddenly set-up 

another panel comprising 

the same Attorney-General 

to investigate the matter 

again. 

“The pertinent question 

is whether the President 

has now realised that the 

initial investigation by the 

Attorney-General was not 

thorough or a cover-up to 

protect a fellow cabinet 

member.” 

“Against this backdrop, 

we are constrained to 

express our lack of 

confidence in the new 

panel headed by the Vice- 

President,” he said. 

“Instead, we demand an 

independent commission 

of inquiry comprising 

eminent Nigerians of 

proven records of integrity, 

independence and 

competence. 

“This is the only way by 

which we can have 

confidence that a thorough 

and impartial investigation 

will be conducted and by 

which the President also 

can reassure the general 

public that there are no 

sacred cows in his 

government for whom 

there are different set of 

rules. The present situation 

amounts to the 

government being the 

judge in its own cause. We 

do not believe that justice 

can be served that way.” 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (front) stands on the conning tower of a 

submarine during his inspection of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) Naval Unit 

167 in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency 

(KCNA) in Pyongyang 

N/Korea warns of pre-emptive 

strike, as US plans next move 

NORTH Korean state 

media warned the 

United States of a “supermighty 

preemptive strike” 

after U.S. Secretary of State 

Rex Tillerson said the United 

States was looking at 

ways to bring pressure to 

bear on North Korea over 

its nuclear programme. 

U.S. President Donald 

Trump has taken a hard 

line with North Korean 

leader Kim Jong Un, who 

has rebuffed admonitions 

from sole major ally China 

and proceeded with nuclear 

and missile programmes 

in defiance of U.N. 

Security Council sanctions. 

The Rodong Sinmun, the 

official newspaper of the 

North’s ruling Workers’ 

Party, did not mince its 

words. 

“In the case of our supermighty 

preemptive strike 

being launched, it will 

completely and immediately 

wipe out not only U.S. 

imperialists’ invasion 

forces in South Korea and 

its surrounding areas but 

the U.S. mainland and reduce 

them to ashes,” it 

said. 

Reclusive North Korea 

regularly threatens to destroy 

Japan, South Korea 

and the United States and 

has shown no let-up in its 

belligerence after a failed 

missile test on Sunday, a 

day after putting on a huge 

display of missiles at a parade 

in Pyongyang. 

Tillerson told reporters in 

Washington on Wednesday 

that the United States was 

“reviewing all the status of 

North Korea, both in terms 

of state sponsorship of terrorism 

as well as the other 

ways in which we can bring 

pressure on the regime in 

Pyongyang.” 

Russia bans Jehovah’s Witnesses, 

labels group extremists 

RUSSIA’s supreme 

court has banned the 

Jehovah’s Witnesses from 

operating in the country, 

accepting a request from 

the justice ministry that the 

religious organization be 

considered an extremist 

group. 

The court ordered the closure 

of the group’s Russia 

headquarters and its 

395 local chapters, as well 

as the seizure of its property. 

The Interfax news agency 

on Thursday quoted justice 

ministry attorney Svetlana 

Borisova in court as saying 

that the Jehovah’s Witnesses 

“pose a threat to the 

rights of the citizens, public 

order and public security”. 

Borisova also said 

Jehovah’s Witnesses’ opposition 

to blood transfusions 

violates Russian 

healthcare laws. 

Yaroslav Sivulsky, a 

spokesman for Jehovah’s 

Witnesses in Russia, said 

Argentina eyes Brexit advantage 

in Falklands dispute 

in a statement they are 

“greatly disappointed by 

this development and 

deeply concerned about 

how this will affect our religious 

activity”. 

Jehovah’s Witnesses said 

they would appeal against 

the ruling. 

The Jehovah’s Witnesses 

claim more than 170,000 

adherents in Russia. The 

group has come under increasing 

pressure over the 

past year. 

China launches first unmanned cargo 

spacecraft 

CHINA has launched 

its first cargo spacecraft, 

making further 

progress in its goal of establishing 

a permanently 

manned space station by 

2022. 

The Tianzhou-1 cargo 

resupply spacecraft lifted 

off early evening on Thursday 

on a Long March-7 Y2 

rocket from the Wenchang 

Satellite Launch 

Centre in the southern island 

province of Hainan. 

State television broadcast 

the launch live. 

Minutes later, as the 

spacecraft cleared the atmosphere, 

the mission was 

declared a success by administrators 

at ground control 

on the outskirts of the 

capital, Beijing. 

ARGENTINA be 

lieves Brexit might 

cost Britain the support 

of European allies for its 

control of the Falkland 

Islands and is watching 

developments closely, 

the Argentinian foreign 

minister said in Brussels. 

Visiting the EU capital 

for trade talks on Thursday, 

Susana Malcorra 

stressed it was too soon 

to say whether Britain 

quitting the bloc may 

soften Union backing for 

London against an 18thcentury 

claim to the 

South Atlantic islands 

that Buenos Aires has 

maintained despite losing 

a brief war there in 

1982. 

Malawi cracks 

down on food 

smugglers 

MALAWI has tightened 

its border controls to stop 

profiteers smuggling muchneeded 

maize out of the 

country in search of higher 

prices. 

Months of drought had left 

more than a third of the 

population reliant on food 

aid, and the government last 

month invoked the Special 

Crops Act, which bans the 

export of some crops. 

The government deployed 

soldiers to seal its porous 

borders with Tanzania and 

Zambia, and impounded 

trucks that are smuggling out 

the staple crop in pursuit of 

more profit. Malawi police 

have also been searching vehicles 

on roads that lead to 

the borders. 

Kenya’s 

President 

warns against 

violence during 

party 

nominations 

K 

ENYA’s President 

Uhuru Kenyatta said 

on Thursday his government 

would not tolerate violence 

between rival 

camps of supporters in 

party primaries before a 

national election in August. 

Two parliamentary candidates 

have been treated in 

hospital after being caught 

up in such a clash - a decade 

after an eruption of 

ethnic violence, in which 

more than 1,200 people 

were killed, following a 

disputed presidential poll. 

“A culture of hooliganism 

during the electoral process 

must not and will not 

be allowed to gain currency 

and acceptance,” Kenyatta 

told a news conference 

at the main State 

House. 

Kenyatta, the wealthy son 

of the country’s first president, 

is running for a second 

and final five-year term 

in the Aug. 8 vote. 

Rwandan man 

jailed for life 

for genocide 

A 

Rwandan man 

accused of leading 

and coordinating attacks on 

minority Tutsis during 

Rwanda’s 1994 genocide 

has been sentenced to life 

imprisonment for his role in 

the mass slaughter, Rwanda’s 

high court said on 

Thursday. 

In the genocide, an estimated 

800,000 ethnic Tutsis 

and moderate Hutus 

were killed in just 100 days. 

Bernard Munyagishari, 

who headed a governmentallied 

militia known as the 

Interahamwe in Rwanda’s 

west, was convicted of 

crimes of genocide and 

crimes against humanity. 

Lawyers for Munyagishari 

said they would appeal.


By Joseph Erunke 

THE journey culminating in 

Wednesday's suspension of 

the Secretary to Government of 

the Federation, Mr. Babachir 

David Lawal, by President 

Muhammadu Buhari, began on 

Tuesday, October 4, 2016, when 

the Senate, based on a motion it 

entertained at the instance of 

Senator Baba Kaka Garbai, 

representing Borno Central 

Senatorial District on the platform 

of the ruling All Progressives 

Congress, APC, drew the 

attention of the upper legislative 

chamber through a motion he 

sponsored, to what he described 

as the ongoing humanitarian crisis 

in the North East and sought 

prompt intervention of the Senate 

to alleviate the situation. 

Senator Garbai’s motion was 

upon a UNICEF report that 

about two million people were at 

risk of starvation in the North 

East. He also noted that Western 

diplomats had described the 

government’s response to the 

crisis as a “disgrace.” 

Exhaustive 

deliberations 

He added that the state of affairs 

in the North East was 

overburdening the cash strapped 

states and local governments in 

the affected areas, urging the 

Senate to act quickly as according 

to him, the intensity of the 

humanitarian crisis in the North 

East had led to some IDPs taking 

to the streets in protest and 

obstructing vehicular movements 

and activities along the 

Maiduguri-Kano/Jos Road over 

the shortage of food. 

After exhaustive deliberations 

during the day's plenary chaired 

by its President, Bukola Saraki, 

the Senate came by a resolution 

setting up an eight-member 

committee, headed by Senator 

Shehu Sani, APC, Kaduna 

Central, to investigate the 

utilisation of funds, grains and 

other food items from the 

strategic grains reserves, and 

•Buhari 

•Tuesday, October 4,2016— Motion on 

humanitarian crisis in the North-East 

debated. 

•Same day-Senate President names eightmember 

probe committee headed by Senator 

Shehu Sani. 

•Thursday, October 13,2016—Saraki 

inaugurated the Senator Shehu Sani-led adhoc 

committee on investigation of 

humanitarian crisis in the North-East. 

•Thursday, December 8,2016—Senate ad-hoc 

committee on investigation of humanitarian 

crisis held public hearing. 

•Tuesday, December 14, 2016, Senate ad-hoc 

committee on investigation of humanitarian 

•Saraki: Senate President 

SGF: Lawal's road to trouble 

HE is famed as BD Lawal and until recently, one of the untouchables in the Muhammadu 

Buhari administration. Lawal an unabashed loyalist of Buhari plays the politics of Buhari 

and has consistently followed the president in all his political journeys. 

NEMA and other sources for the 

IDPs. Moved at the gory picture 

of the plight of the IDPs, as 

painted by Senator Garbai, the 

Senate resolved also that each of 

the 109 senators must cough out 

the sum of N300, 000 for the 

maintenance of IDPs in the North 

East. 

While inaugurating the eightman 

ad-hoc committee on 

October 13, 2016, to probe the 

use of funds that were allotted to 

the humanitarian crisis in the 

North East so far, Saraki vowed 

that the Senate would unearth 

everything behind the 

TIMELINES 

humanitarian crisis, urging 

members of the ad-hoc 

committee to ensure that there 

was no cover-up in the 

investigation. 

"The whole world is watching. 

We must ensure that there are 

no cover-ups as this is the first 

committee of its kind that has 

been inaugurated to embark on 

this task,” the Senate President 

said. “The work that this 

committee will be doing will 

impact the lives of the 4.5million 

families in the Northeast who are 

in dire need of relief, rehabilitation 

and other forms of assistance. 

crisis in the North-East submitted report to 

Senate in plenary. 

•Same day, Senate called on President 

Muhammadu Buhari not only to sack SGF but 

make him face prosecution for soiling his 

hands in corruption over contracts allegedly 

awarded to his company. 

•Tuesday, January 24,2017— President 

Muhammadu Buhari wrote the Senate 

exonerating SGF of any wrongdoing. He said 

the Senate before coming to its resolution, 

didn’t give SGF fair hearing. 

•Same day-Senate flayed the anti-corruption 

posture of the federal government, describing 

Buhari’s action as “funeral service for anticorruption 

fight” in the country. 

At the public hearing held at 

the instance of the committee on 

December 8, 2016, the committee 

discovered that the Presidential 

Initiative for the North East, 

PINE, could not properly account 

for about N2.5 billion, part of 

funds released for it for capital 

intervention, when all the people 

The whole world is 

watching; we must 

ensure that there are 

no cover-ups as this 

is the first committee 

of its kind that has 

been inaugurated to 

embark on this task 

who appeared before the Senate 

ad-hoc committee presented their 

submissions. The committee 

uncovered what appeared to be 

cases of corruption, including 

phantom projects and inflated 

contracts by PINE. 

In one case, at the Senate 

committee public hearing, 

PINE’S boss, Umar Gulani, had 

claimed that the agency spent 

N203 million to clear taipa grass 

in Yobe State; but this was 

rebutted by the state’s 

Commissioner for Information, 

Mohammed Lamin. Mr. Lamin 

•Lawal: Embattled SGF 

said “no taipa grass was cleared 

in the state by any federal 

government agency in Yobe 

State.” 

Mr. Gulani also claimed PINE 

expended N253 million on the 

clearing of invasive plants species 

around river banks in the state; 

and another N422.5 million to 

provide temporary shelter (tents) 

to displaced families in the state. 

These were also disputed by the 

Yobe State representatives led by 

Mr. Lamin. Also, PINE’s claim 

of spending several millions of 

naira to renovate 18 schools 

completely destroyed by Boko 

Haram insurgents in Yobe State 

alone was also rejected by the 

commissioner. 

Only three schools have been 

renovated by agencies outside 

the state, the commissioner said. 

With the way PINE’s claims were 

shattered, the Senate Committee 

demanded evidence, including 

photographs and documents of 

contracts claimed to have been 

executed by the agency. From the 

statement of account submitted 

to the committee by PINE, it was 

discovered that while PINE 

donated N50 million to an 

unnamed NGO, it spent N2 

million to feed internally displaced 

persons who should form the 

central focus of any effort at 

addressing the North-East crisis. 

On Tuesday, December 14, 

2016, committee submitted its 

report which prompted the 

Continues on page 43


Samson Osagie 

By Gabriel Enogholase 

ON the seeming face-off 

between the National 

Assembly and the Executive. 

The face-off between the 

National Assembly and the 

presidency is not unusual. The 

public and the media will like to 

call it face-off but we regard it as 

the normal intercourse that has 

come to characterize our young 

democratic experience as a 

nation where first and foremost 

each organ of government tries 

to assume power and over step 

their boundaries and the other 

organ tries to do same. At the end 

of the day, in the ensuing muscle 

flexing, you now have open 

confrontation, open 

disagreement between the 

legislature and the executive. 

Curiously, these two organs of 

government cannot do without 

each other no matter what you 

see. I think it is the media that 

SGF: Lawal's road to trouble 

Continues from page 42 

Senate to call for immediate 

resignation, probe and 

prosecution of the Secretary to the 

Government of the Federation, 

Mr. Babachir Lawal, over alleged 

mismanagement of funds meant 

for the rehabilitation of the North- 

East rehabilitation under his 

watch. 

The lawmakers specifically 

called on security and anti-graft 

agencies to arrest and prosecute 

Lawal, who is overseeing the 

presidential initiative, for 

allegedly owning one of the 

companies awarded contracts for 

the rehabilitation of the North- 

East. The report read in part: 

“The committee discovered that 

all contracts from the Presidential 

Initiative on the North-East were 

awarded under the principle of 

emergency situation as stipulated 

in Section 43 (i) and (ii) but with 

absolute disregard for sub-section 

(iii) and (iv) of the same Section 

43 of the Public Procurement Act, 

2007. 

“Similarly, the entire 

procurement activities carried out 

by PINE in the North-East 

contravene Federal 

Government’s Financial Rules 

and Regulations number 2948. 

Most of the contracts awarded by 

PINE have no direct bearing/ 

impact on the lives of the 

displaced persons apparently 

languishing in hunger, disease, 

squalor and other deplorable 

conditions in all the DPS. 

"Such projects, the report 

stated, included two conferences 

on rebuilding the North-East and 

the purported “payment of 

N223m for the removal of 

invasive plant species in 

Komadugu in Yobe water 

channels.” The committee added 

that: “PINE took undue 

advantage of the provision of 

emergency situation contract 

award in the Public Procurement 

Act 2007 to overinflate contracts. 

Not only that: contracts were 

awarded to companies belonging 

to top government officials’ 

cronies, family members and 

close associates. 

But the SGF, however, denied 

the allegation, saying what the 

Senate said was “balderdash” 

and an attempt by the senators 

to malign him. He wondered why 

the committee did not invite him 

during the investigative hearing 

Why Obaseki can't 

abandon APC 

leadership in Edo 

— Osagie, ex-minority whip 

THOUGH the immediate past governor of Edo State, 

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, was recently appointed as 

leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state in 

seeming deference to Governor Godwin Obaseki’s apparent 

decision to concentrate on governance, Mr. Samson Osagie, 

the immediate past Minority Whip in the House of 

Representatives, however, warns that the governor cannot 

abandon politicking completely. He warns that in his absence 

some persons are beginning to take advantage of the 

situation in the state. Osagie in this interview in Benin also 

reviews the situation between the National Assembly and the 

presidency saying that it is symptomatic of a virile democracy. 

Excerpts: 

gives so much hype to these 

disagreements because behind 

closed doors, there are constant 

meetings, consultations on 

issues, deliberations on issues of 

governance between the two 

organs of government. 

Unfortunately, some officials of 

both sides tend not to understand 

that this relationship must be 

symbiotic and not a one sided 

affair. I like President Buhari’s 

approach to the issue by asking 

the Vice President to look at the 

issues involved. 

Driver of the 

governance 

That underscores the fact that 

to confront him with the 

allegations. 

The SGF said: “The Senate is 

talking balderdash; it has 

developed a bring-him-down 

syndrome. Nigerians have 

decided that we should destroy 

our best; we should all destroy 

the promising and best among 

us by bringing people down 

without a cause. This is just how 

I see it. I have the report of the 

Senate committee, in which it 

was said that I didn’t resign from 

Rholavision Nigeria Limited. Let 

me tell you, Rholavision was 

formed by me in December, 1990, 

and it has been a company that 

was run very successfully. 

Fair hearing 

before the indictment 

“When I was appointed 

Secretary to the Government of 

the Federation, I resigned from 

that company on August 18, 2015. 

I can see that in their report, they 

are talking about 2016. I don’t 

know where they got their facts." 

While the Senate was waiting 

for President Muhammadu 

Buhari to act on its resolution on 

the SGF, the latter stunned the 

he recognizes the importance of 

the organ of government for its 

smooth operations as the driver 

of the governance of the country. 

It is not abnormal. 

Is your party leading the 

country in the right direction? 

I believe the party has very 

laudable programmes for this 

country to be resuscitated 

economically. The challenges 

facing the government and the 

party at the moment probably are 

far more than what was 

contemplated. 

Given the mindboggling 

pilfering of the public treasury 

that we have seen in the last 

administration from which this 

government is trying to buckle 

former when on Tuesday, January 

24, he responded to the Senate 

resolution requesting him to 

remove Lawal and prosecute him 

through a written letter read by 

the Senate President at the day's 

plenary. In the letter, the 

president defended Mr. Lawal 

and gave reasons he could not 

act as demanded by the Senate. 

Buhari, in the letter said the SGF 

was not given fair hearing before 

the indictment. 

He said Mr. Lawal said neither 

the SGF nor the company said 

to have been used to perpetrate 

the alleged illegality was invited 

by the Shehu Sani-committee. He 

also said the report of the 

committee was signed by three 

of the nine members of the adhoc 

committee, thus making its 

report a minority report. 

Consequently, the president said 

he had no choice than not to act 

against Mr. Lawal as canvassed 

by the Senate. 

But in a quick reaction, Senator 

Sani raised a point of order to 

defend his committee’s report. He 

said President Buhari’s claims 

were false, insisting that Mr. 

Lawal and other parties were 

involved and his committee had 

up coupled with fall in price of 

oil prices, and of course lack of 

adequate revenue, this 

government inherited a problem 

it didn’t bargain for. You cannot 

question the integrity of this 

government compared to the last 

administration. That is why I 

believe that in spite of the gloomy 

economic situation in the country, 

the APC stands a greater chance 

of removing the nation from the 

clutches of corruption, 

indiscipline and the free for all 

way that this country used to be 

run in the past. 

Reports indicate that the APC 

is broke? 

Those are speculations. It is true 

that the recession is affecting 

every organ of government 

including the party. That is not 

to say it cannot hold national 

convention because of lack of 

fund. It is not possible. 

Obaseki’s position of 

separating governance from 

politics. Will it grow the APC in 

Edo? 

There can be no difference 

between the government of a 

state and the party that brought 

the government to power. If there 

exists a gulf, strictly speaking, it 

can create a political problem for 

the governor and I pray that he 

does not allow that to happen. 

What will happen is that some 

persons will use that opportunity 

to use the party as an instrument 

for fighting political opponents, 

for personal aggrandizement 

whether or not those persons are 

capable of holding the state 

together politically. A governor 

cannot ride on the platform of a 

party to governance and then 

totally neglect or run away in the 

running of the affairs of the party. 

evidence. He also said seven of 

nine members of the committee 

signed the report, and not three 

of nine as claimed by the 

president. 

Senator Shehu Sani, who said 

he was shocked that President 

Buhari could be misled to write 

such a letter, described it as “the 

funeral service for anti-corruption 

fight” in the country. The Senate 

President, Bukola Saraki, who 

had also expressed shock on the 

president's action, told Buhari that 

the world was watching him on 

how he would handle the 

Senate’s resolution calling for the 

sack of Secretary to the 

Government of the Federation, 

SGF, Mr Babachir Lawal, for 

allegedly soiling his hands in 

corrupt practices. 

The development resulted in 

frosty relationship between the 

Senate and the Presidency 

leading the former to declare that 

it would no longer treat any 

communication from the 

Presidency pending when its 

grievances were resolved. 

Apparently, the presidency has 

capitulated to what many saw as 

a test case for its war against 

corruption.


Chelsea, Tottenham dominate 2017 PFA 

Team of the Year 

CHELSEA and Tot 

tenham lead the 

way in the PFA Premier 

League Team of the Year 

with four players each. 

After stunning seasons 

Chelsea 

midfielder N’Golo 

Kante and winger Eden 

Hazard, both 

nominated for the PFA 

Player of the Year 

award, are included 

along with defensive 

duo Gary Cahill and 

David Luiz. 

Spurs, who currently 

trail leaders Chelsea by 

four points in the title 

race, are represented by 

midfielder Dele Alli and 

striker Harry Kane, as 

well as full backs Danny 

Rose and Kyle Walker. 

While Kane and 

Lukaku are also on the 

shortlist for player of the 

year, but the other two 

nominees, Manchester 

United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic 

and Alexis 

Sanchez of Arsenal, 

miss out. 

Ibrahimovic has 

scored 17 goals in his 

first Premier League 

season despite his 

critics expecting him to 

struggle to adapt to 

English football, almost 

single-handedly 

leading United’s bid for 

Champions League 

football, but even that 

has not been enough to 

dislodge the duo of 

Kane and Lukaku. 

and the direction of the 

local game. 

Rivers United also 

crashed out of the 

Champions League and 

are only 90 minutes away 

from either progressing to 

the group stage of the 

Confederation Cup or say 

bye to the competition 

after recording a 2-0 win 

over Rayon Sports of 

Rwanda in Port Harcourt 

last Sunday. The return 

leg comes up in Kigali 

this weekend. 

Earlier, FC IfeanyiUbah 

and Wikki Tourists of 

Bauchi were sent out of 

the CAF Confederation 

Cup. 

Reviewing the trend in 

Lagos, Nigeria Football 

Federation Director of 

Communications, Demola 

Olajire condemned the 

performances of Nigerian 

teams in the continent 

pointing out that they did 

not commensurate the 

efforts being put into the 

league by the League 

Management Company. 

Olajire 

Continues from BP He recalled with 

disgust, the reckless 

manner Rivers United lost 

out in the CAF 

Alli Hazard De Gea Lukaku Mane 


against Al-Merreikh of 

Sudan. “Our local players 

are lazy and lack the 

winning mentality. They 

don’t have the cutting 

edge because you can see 

the way all the teams were 

knocked out of the 

continental competitions,” 

he said sadly. 

“How else do you 

describe a team that won 

the first leg 3-0 at home 

to go and get eliminated 

after the second leg? It is 

a shame and local players 

have to take 

responsibility for their 

actions.” 

Rivers United are the 

only surviving Nigerian 

team left in the continent 

as they travel to Kigali 

this weekend for the 

second leg of the CAF 

Confederation Cup 

against Rayon Sports of 

Rwanda. Rivers won the 

first leg 2-0 . 

•Big snub for Zlatan, Sanchez as there are no Man 

City or Arsenal players in the XI 

Jide Bademosi U-19 Cricket Tournament: 

Oyo, Lagos begin in commanding manner 

OYO and Lagos 

State teams to the 

maiden edition of the Jide 

Bademosi U-19 Cricket 

Tournament began the 

competition in intimidating 

fashion. While Oyo State 

overran Osun by 118 runs 

in the match played on 

pitch 1, Lagos dismissed 

Ogun by a whooping 10 

wickets. The matches were 

played simultaneously. 

Ogun State won the toss 

and elected to field first 

against an experienced but 

youthful Oyo State team. 

Oyo State went on to post a 

high total of 203runs for the 

loss of 5wkts in 40overs. 

Captain of Oyo State 

Runsewe Sulaimon top 

scored for his team with 

53runs off 55balls, Olaleye 

Elijah contributed to his 

teams total with 47runs off 

47balls, Adewoye Vincent 

also contributed by scoring 

30runs not out off 18balls. 

Oyo state bowlers quickly 

wrapped up the Ogun 

batsmen bowling them all 

out for 85runs in 20.4overs. 

Adeleke Olumide of Ogun 

State could only manage 

11runs off 15balls while 

Adila Samuel also 

contributed to his teams total 

with 10runs off 19balls. 

Man of the match: 

Runsewe Sulaiman (Oyo 

State) 

In the second match, 

Osun State won the toss and 

elected to field first against 

a talented and really young 

Lagos State team. Osun 

state were bowled out for 

45runs 19.1overs. 

Rivers Utd 

Continues from BP 

Festus has warned his 

side against complacency 

heading into the second 

leg this Saturday at 

Amahoro National 

Stadium. 

Peace Cup holders 

Rayon Sports stumbled in 

their pursuit to become the 

first Rwandan club ever to 

reach the group stage of 

the continent’s second 

biggest club competition, 

losing 2-0 at the Yakubu 

Gowon Stadium in Port 

Harcourt, last Sunday. 

Goals in either side of 

half time from Emeka 

Atuloma and Guy 

Kuemian put the Nigerian 

side in the front seat 

ahead of the second leg. 

Rayon Sports head coach 

Djuma Masudi believes 

his team can overturn the 

first leg deficit. 

Rivers United skipper 

Festus has insisted that 

there won’t be a repeat of 

last month’s humiliation 

by Sudanese Al Merreikh 

where they were ejected 

out of the CAF 

Champions League on a 

4-3 aggregate despite 

having registered a 3-0 

win in the first leg. 

“We are happy with the 

2-0 advantage and we are 

sure there won’t be a 

repeat of what happened 

in Sudan,” Festus told 

Goal.com. 

He added, “We have 

learnt our lessons from 

what transpired there and 

have put it behind us. 

They (Rayon Sports) 

came all out to neutralize 

our tactics but we proved 

to be superior and I do not 

see them beating us in the 

return leg.” 

Ugo Ehiogu collapses! 

FORMER England 

and Aston Villa defender 

Ugo Ehiogu is in hospital 

after collapsing at Tottenham’s 

training centre yesterday. 

The 44-year-old, who 

is Spurs’ Under-23s coach, 

received medical treatment 

on site before being transferred 

to hospital by ambulance, 

the Premier League 

club confirmed. 

“Everyone at the club 

sends their best wishes to 

Ugo and his family,” Tottenham 

added in a statement. 

Ehiogu has been at Spurs 

since 2014. He made over 

200 appearances for Aston 

Villa between 1991 and 2000 

and then spent seven years 

at Middlesbrough. 

He won the League Cup 

with Villa in 1996 and also 

Champions league 


Madrid (ESP), 

Juventus (ITA), Monaco 

(FRA) and Real Madrid 

(ESP, holders). 

Teams are not seeded 

and clubs from the same 

national association can 

be drawn against each 

other. 


the last four of the 

Champions League. 

Juve produced two 

brilliant displays to see 

of Barcelona 3-0 over 

two-legs and book a 

place in the semi-finals 

of the European Cup. 

Yet veteran keeper 

Buffon admits the 

prospect of facing Diego 

Simeone’s Atletico is one 

Juventus would rather 

not face in the last four. 

Instead the 39-yearold 

would rather come 

up against defending 

champions Real Madrid 

or Monaco in the next 

round. 

Juventus 

•Ehiogu 

with Middlesbrough in 

2004. Ehiogu, who was 

capped four times by England, 

also played for West 

Brom, Leeds, Rangers and 

Sheffield United before retiring 

in 2009. 

Olympic hero killed during ride with 

Usain Bolt 

BRITISH Olympic 

silver medallist Germaine 

Mason has been 

killed in a motorbike accident 

as he rode in a convoy 

with Usain Bolt in Jamaica. 

Mason, who won silver 

at the Beijing Games in 

2008, died in a crash as he 

rode home from a party 

with pals in Kingston this 

morning. 

The 34-year-old died at 

the scene after losing control 

of his bike amid claims 

he swerved to avoid an oncoming 

vehicle. 

He had been on a night 

out with triple world and 

Olympic champion Bolt, 

along with sprinter 

Michael Frater, and the 

group were riding home 

in convoy. 

Mason grew up on the 

Caribbean island but 

switched allegiances to 

represent Great Britain in 

2006 ahead of the Olympics 

in China in two years 

later. 

•Late Mason 

Jamaican Prime Minister 

Andrew Holness later 

tweeted: “Our sincere 

condolences to sporting 

fraternity.” 

The semi-final first 

legs will take place on 

Tuesday 2 and 

Wednesday 3 May, with 

the return legs coming 

up a week after. The 

side drawn first in each 

tie will play the first leg 

at home. 

He believes the fact 

Atleti are not pushing 

for the La Liga title will 

allow Simeone to rest his 

kep players to ensure 

they are peak condition 

for Champions League 

matches. 

Buffon said: “Maybe 

it’s better to meet 

Monaco or Real, who 

will spend significant 

energy in the fight for 

the league. 

“They would rotate 

less, compared to 

Atletico, who have a 

more defined position in 

the table and can 

manage themselves.”


46 — VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017


Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 

Local players lazy, lack 

winning mentality– Olajire 

BY JACOB AJOM 

THE failure of 

N i g e r i a 

Professional Football 

League champions, 

Enugu Rangers in the 

CAF Champions League 

and their disgraceful 

ouster from the CAF 

Confederation Cup has 

again called to scrutiny 

the quality of the 

Nigerian league, the 

depth of its personnel 


Champions 

League semi 

final draw holds 

Time: 11 a.m. 

WHICH teams will 

progress to the 

final of the European 


slated for June 3 at the 

National Stadium of 

Wales in Cardiff? 

The draw ceremony for 

the semi final pairings 

will be held today at 

UEFA headquarters in 

Nyon, Switzerland. 

The teams still in 

contention are Atlético 


TODAY'S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

YESTERDAY'S ANSWERS 

Juventus hope to 

avoid Atletico 

Madrid – Buffon 

THE GREAT FALL: Lionel Messi was sent crashing down to Earth after he 

contested a ball against Miralem Pjanic of Juventus 

CAF Confederation Cup: Rivers Utd captain warns 

against complacency 

DESPITE carrying a 

t w o - g o a l 

advantage from the first 

leg of the CAF 

Confederation Cup 

playoff round against 

G IANLUIGI 

BUFFON says 

Juventus are desperate to 

avoid Atletico Madrid in 


Rayon Sport, Rivers 

United captain Austin 


ACROSS 

1 Notice (4) 

4 Rodent (3) 

6 Lean (4) 

9 Free (3) 

10 Pepper (8) 

11 Top (4) 

14 Help (3) 

16 Relative (5) 

19 Shy (8) 

21 Lukewarm (5) 

23 Realm (8) 

24 Fashion (5) 

27 Gratuity (3) 

31 Remainder (4) 

33 Lingered (8) 

34 Bishopric (3) 

35 Ruler (4) 

36 Tree (3) 

37 Weary (4) 

DOWN 

2 Scheme (4) 

3 Trial (4) 

4 Obtained (8) 

5 Volume (4) 

6 Coach (5) 

7 Joint (3) 

8 Perfect (5) 

12 Gown (5) 

13 Composition (5) 

14 Skill (3) 

15 Storehouse (5) 

17 Seat (5) 

18 Happening (5) 

20 Decrease (8) 

22 Immense (3) 

25 Lock (5) 

26 Subsequently (5) 

28 Excuse (4) 

29 Marquee (4) 

30 Tolerate (4) 

32 Ocean (3) 

•Buffon 

Chelsea, Tottenham dominate 

2017 PFA Team of the Year 

— Page 44 

NPFL matches on Sunday 

Kano Pillars v Tornadoes 4pm 

MFM v Akwa United 4pm 

Rangers v Gombe United 4pm 

Sunshine v Lobi Stars 4pm 

Remo Stars v Enyimba 4pm 

Wikki v Abia Warriors 4pm 

Katsina v Plateau 4pm 

ABS F.C. v El-Kanemi 4pm 

Shooting v FCIU 4pm 

Rivers v Nasarawa 4pm 

Tomorrow 

Chelsea v Tottenham 5:15pm 

Sunday April 23 

Arsenal v Man. City 3pm 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

FA FA Cup Fixtures 

How to Play Sudoku 

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can 

have two of the same number). 

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also 

nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a 

bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 

through 9. This means that no number can appear twice 

in any block, column or row. 

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division 

or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

ACROSS:1, Fabric 5, Before 8, Distress 9, 

Lady 10, Sue 12, Force 15, Cos 17, Nor 18, 

Too 19, Odd 20, Awash 21, Rue 22, Elm 23, 

Egg 24, Lad 26, Enter 29, Imp 33, Mere 34, 

Kindness 35, Stated 36, Intact. 

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS 

DOWN: 2, Adieu 3, Rite 4, Credo 5, Basic 5, 

Felt 7, Radio 10, Scowl 11, Ended 12, Frame 

13, React 14, Ether 15, Corgi 16, Steep 25, 

Avert 27, Naked 28, Ennui 30, Music 31, Pest 

32, Knot 

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 

01-4544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com 

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: EZE ANABA. Phone: 01—4548355, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

21042017 - NIA cash: Osinbajo meets Magu, DSS boss, IG, others

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